Revelance of the Future
by Ginriku
Summary: He's up against the invincible, to stop them he must leave everything he has ever held dear and worked so hard for. Naruto must travel back, back to when it all began. He must destroy the future he knows to save it. Will everyone make it out alive? Plz r
1. Begining of the Solution

Hey this is my first Naruto Fanfic and I have been thinking about this for a long time, wondering if I should write it or not. So I finally decided to! Don't worry unlike my other... not so good fanfictions this one will be completed no matter how long it takes! I have made it one of my resolutions o it will be done!

**Summary:** He's up against forces unknown, to stop them he must leave his friends, his wife, and his daughter. Naruto must travel back, back to when it all began. He must destroy the future he knows to save it.Will everyone make it out alive?

Disclaimer: If I did own Naruto... Oh the possibilities!!! But I don't.

"talking"

_'thinking'_

**'Kyuubi talking'**

_**'Kyuubi thinking'**_

_Flashback_

* * *

Revelance of the Future

Chapter 1

Beginning of the Solution

By: Ginriku

* * *

It was a dark day in Konoha as the twenty-six year old Rokudaime Hokage paced around his office. 

The reason why this young man was so stressed out was that he was pinned, checkmated. Well not yet but by this time the next day he and his village would be.

_Flashback_

_The twenty-six year old was pacing in front of the Kyuubi inside his cell. This was a few months before the present day._

_"Kyuubi! What am I going to do! What if they decide to mobilize their plans and we don't see it! We lost our top strategist yesterday, and, and,... they left a message" The tall blond's voice had faded to a quiet whisper instead of the shouts he had started with._

_**'Calm down Kit... I... have an idea.'** The great fox then nudged his confiner with his nose to guide him to the floor. The water that usually made his mind dank and musty had long since dried up. **'Kit there is... two ways to do this first is a special ritual, the second is a very dangerous jutsu that none have been able to do.'**_

_"Do what Fox! Do what! What is that for? If its to help Konoha, what ever it is I'll do it!" _

_**'To return to when it all started, to stop this atrocity from ever happening... Is that not your greatest wish? You know we had a very rough escape from them last time and the next time will be the finality, them or us, do you not wish for a chance to un-do it all?'**_

_The Rokudaime at first just stared at the old demon with glazed over eyes, thinking about what he said. After a few moments he snapped back into focus and demanded urgently. "What do we need to do?"_

_End Flashback_

As he was about to finish his one-hundredth and thirty-second pace the door to his office opened with a soft 'click'.

"Naruto-kun, what's wrong? You've been up here for hours and Kia has been asking where her daddy is."

The Rokudaime looked at his wife sadly and tiredly sighed.

"Come here for a moment Hina-chan... I have something to show you."

Hinata shot a worried glance to her husband as they walked over to his desk. When she had read what the papers that he had pointed to said, her eyes widened as she tried to stifle a gasp.

"Is there anything we can do to stop this!?"

Naruto wrapped his arms around his wife from behind as he buried his head in the crook of her neck.

"I'm sorry Hinata, but there is nothing. Our forces are spread out to thin, things have been getting worse since we lost Shikamaru. This just proves how good of a strategist he was."

Hinata was distraught. She hadn't seen her sunshine this helpless since he realized that Sasuke would never come back and that to save every one he would have to kill the one he once considered a brother.

She was close to tears now. "So there is nothing. Absolutely not one thing that we can do to stop this...? Oh Kia..."

"Hush, honey. There is one thing. Although I do not know if it will work, it is risky... Please assemble all of our friends in the meeting room... and bring Kia too. I wish to speak with her before I do what I must."

With out a word Hinata dashed from the room to collect her daughter and organize their friends, leaving a muttering and once again pacing, Naruto.

_'I hope you know what your doing Kyuubi.'_

_**'Don't worry kit. It'll work. And I know how you feel, I'll miss 'em too...'**_

* * *

Forty-five minutes later the door to his office opened once again. 

"Daddy!!!" A small girl of five years old with sun kissed blond hair and lavender Hyuuga eyes ran over to the hokage and latched onto one of his legs.

"Heh heh, good to see you too sweetie."

As Naruto was bending down to pick his daughter up, Hinata called worriedly from the doorway. "Everyone is here Naruto-kun, lets head to the meeting room." She looked down right nervous about the situation.

"Very well Hina-chan lets go." To his daughter now he asked in a gentler voice, with a small smile. "Do you want Daddy to carry you, my little angel?"

"Yes Daddy! Carry me! The small girl was ecstatic as the tall blond man, who was thinking what it would be like to be that care free, swept her up in his strong arms and carried her into the other room as her mother lead the way.

* * *

Well? What do you think? Should I continue? I already have chapter two done and part of chapter three but I won't put them out untill I get a few reviews!!!

Sooooo... REVIEW!

Also please review if you have any questions!

P.S. This chapter re-vamped on Jan.30, 2008


	2. Friends Revival

Authors Notes: Hey! Thank you to everyone who reviewed!! I'm sorry if my chapters are slow or short I will try to get them to at least a thousand words and school is starting up again so sorry ''' Also if anyone has an idea for a little side story thing or twist please P.M. me every story needs a good twist and I'm not to good with them!

Beta Notes: Omgosh! It's me! For so long burnstar has been helping with my fic that I decided to do her a favor. That's right! From now on I shall be mutilating her fics so that I may hope to make them better. But she is already a GREAT writer that this is gonna be tough.

Disclaimer: Why do we have to do these things? Everyone knows that we don't own Naruto if one of us did we wouldn't be on this site in the first place!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**'Kyuubi talking'**

_**'Kyuubi thinking'**_

Note: Flashbacks will be in italics so you have to watch if they are thinking or talking.

To hope master: Glad you like it although the way you worded it made me kind go o.O

Without further ado here's the chapter!

* * *

Revelance of the Future

Chapter 2

Friends Revival

By: Ginriku

Edited/Beta Read by: LettaR999

* * *

As Naruto walked into the room he reminisced over how the number in the room had drastically decreased. 

Asuma as well as Kurenai were gone, but their eleven year old son remained and stood over by Ino and her six year old son, who's father, Ino's husband, Shikamaru was also dead.

Chouji was still there, although he had barely made it. A few months ago he had suffered a near fatal injury and was only saved by Shikamaru wo sacrificed his only life to save his oldest, and best friend.

Gai was also gone. As were Kiba and Shino.

Tsunade whom Naruto thought of as a mother figure was gone, the result of an assassination. Naruto took her death hard. He had been out in the front lines leaving Tsunade to deal with the village upkeep.

Jiraiya remained though his right arm and leg now bore nasty scars and burns. The old pervert had also sworn an oath to never write another book as long as he lived. He had seen to many things to even think about it anymore.

Anko was also there however her partner, Ibiki was Killed in action. She was actually one of the slug sannin's last patients before she was taken down, the snake kunoichi now sported a metal prosthetic left leg from the middle of the thigh down.

Lee had lost his left arm, but luckily got away with his life, grieving over the loss of his sensei.

Tenten was gone leaving Neji with their six year old daughter. Neji himself had an intimidating scar on the left side of his face from the temple to jaw and continuing from left collar bone to right hip.

Sai had simply disappeared.

The girls of the rookie nine were better off then the boys, Sakura only had a small crescent shape on the back of her left hand since she was now Konoha's head medic nin.

Hinata only had a few scars on her hands and another larger one on her abdomen.

Ino had some scars one her arms and one on her right thigh in a strange upside down 'y' pattern.

Naruto himself had twin scars. One on his front from right shoulder to the left hip and one on his back from left shoulder to right hip, so together they made an 'X' desgin. His deepest wound however was having the knowledge that Sasuke, his teamate, friend, brother. Would never come back.

The Konohamaru corps. or what was left of them were there.

Undon had died around eight months ago on a mission with Kiba.

Moegi was currently sitting on Konohamaru's lap with her head resting on his shoulder relaxing slightly, they had gotten back from a mission just yesterday and were still tired.

Gaara was there as well, the last shinobi of Sunagakure. The lone survivor of an extinct civilization. His siblings were killed on the same battlefield as Shikamaru was a few days earlier.

Kakashi was the only sensei of the rookie nine left alive, for his best friend, Iruka, was gone as well. He no longer read perverted books and was no longer late, nearly ten years of fighting could do that to you.

Yamato as well had departed from the world of the living around three years ago, along with the users of Mokuton (Wood Element) ninjutsu.

The tall blonde Hokage sighed as he looked around the room wishing that there were more faces. He smiled sadly as he set the little blond girl on the floor and nudged her over to her mother.

As he straightened Naruto took one last look around the room before starting to speak. "Friends, I have asked you here today to... Ah never mind I'll cut the formal crap. It's too long winded and time consuming for its own good. To be blunt about it is that if we don't do something, this time tomorrow Konoha will be no more."

To say that they were unprepared for such a revelation would be an understatement. Only three people in the room, who didn't already know this information, Kakashi, Neji, and Gaara, didn't gasp in surprised horror. While Kakashi and Gaara who didn't make a sound, looked tense as Neji had his eyes closed shut taking a slow calming breath before snapping them open again and asking sharply, "Is the anything we can do to avoid this… Fate?"

Most in the room smiled slightly at the irony. Neji the one that used to be so determined that your fate was set out in stone, was fighting against it.

The Hokage responded as an old war veteran would, "No our forces are spread out to thin along the border... they won't make it back in time. They have been planning this the whole time, for years, slowly decreasing our numbers..."

As Naruto rose from the diagram he had drawn while talking, the young Rokudaime made a small note, as if he was talking to himself but just loud enough for everyone to hear.

"There may be nothing **we** can do, but there is something **I** can do."

He met the eyes of everyone in the room as he said the next part.

"I have been saving this for a time of great need incase it should arise. For months I have been researching, studying, experimenting, and I have finally found an answer. Although I need to make a pact. A pact with the Angel of Souls and Hitotoki. Even though that there is a good chance they won't agree..."

When he trailed off again Sakura stood up from her chair with a worried expression on her face asked their Hokage in a wary but demanding voice, "What are you going to do Naruto? Tell us! Tell us please...!" Her voice had grown weak at the end as she thought of the lengths he might go too, to save the ones he considered family.

The others looked at him either with the same amount of worry or a steely gaze, both types knowing that if his mind was made up there would be no changing it. To try would be considered futile.

"Don't worry I've found a solution that will not take away any lives and if I do it correctly, it will gain many back."

While many were trying to decipher his most recent cryptic message, Kakashi had noticed his behavior and what it meant. His formor student was acting just as his father had when he was trying to tell him and the Sandaime of his plan for defeating the Kyuubi. Now it seemed that his son was about to do something just as risky and dangerous.

"Naruto-kun..." It was Hinata who spoke up this time. "Tells us please, just please tell us."

The Rokudaime sighed and decided to tell it to them straight, no more subliminal hints or cryptic codes.

"Hina-chan... Everyone, I am going to try and go back in time..."

* * *

A/N: Well there you have it! Chapter 2! I really have to get cracking on chapter 3 gaah!! I dont know how to drag it out! Anyway hoped you enjoyed it and if you have any suggestions please put that into your review! hinthint 

B/N: Well I TRIED to make it better. But who knows I may have made it worse. This was so good in the beginning there wasn't much to change. I tried to elaborate more and fix the spelling. But that's pretty much it.

Review Please!

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P.S. Chapter re-vamped Jan.30, 2008.


	3. Blinding Light

**Author's Notes:** Well the third chapter is finally here!!! I got so mad at it on sunday and decided to work on it all day and not stop untill I was done, it took me 4 and a half hours!!! And then I had to type it! Ow my hands hurt and my finger tips are numb. I hope you like this chapter!

**Beta's Note:** Well here we go! The best excuse in the world to slack off on my fic. I mean… Take a well deserved break?

**Disclaimer:** I once and for all will speak for my self and everybody who's reads/writes stories on this site does NOT own Naruto!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**'Kyuubi talking'**

_**'Kyuubi Thinking'**_

* * *

Note: If there is a flashback it will be in all italics so you have to watch if they are talking or thinking. 

Revelance of the Future

Chapter 3

Blinding Light

By: burnstar

Edited/Beta Read by: LettaR999

* * *

"You're going to WHAT!?" Everyone within the room who was old enough to understand the depth of his suggestion gaped in shock. 

Although the question was on everyone's mind it was Asuka, Asuma's and Kurenai's son that asked it. "B-but Hokage-sama!, how is that possible?!?! Is it EVEN possible?"

Naruto sighed and started his explanation, "To travel through time relatively safely one must have an abnormally large amount of chakra... That and a heck of a good reason. That is where the pact comes in."

For the first time since entering the room Gaara looked up and questioned quietly, "How exactly are you going to initiate this pact? Aren't those being's that you mentioned, they control part of the spirit realm. It would be difficult to contact them." Many quietly stated their agreement.

"I'm aware of that and I have found a solution. Through a series of seals and symbols I will be able to channel chakra through them which will then reach the spirit realm and call them here, after which if they accept they should send me back in time. If not, well. Let's cross that bridge when we get there."

The blond had once again started pacing as he explained his plan.

"If they agree they will do something, I'm not sure what, they may even have to contact kami himself. However if they don't agree or the summoning doesn't work... I know of a jutsu that is said to traverse through time as well, but it is highly unstable and haven't been known to even work. I will only use that as a last resort."

Naruto stopped pacing and once again turned to face them. With a sorrowed but determined look in his eyes he continued, "Friends.. Thank you. Just… Thank you for being there for me through all these years. Even though I was just some dumb blond you stayed with me. You guys truly are my family, thank you." He paused for a second and sighed. "That is all for now. If you have anymore questions stay behind... This meeting is adjourned."

Many were slightly startled at the abruptness of the end of the meeting and took a moment to realize what happened. When they did many if not all came over to say good-bye knowing that this may most likely be the last time that they saw him.

On their way out of the room Naruto heard something that brought a small smile to his lips, he doubted that he would hear for a long while.

"Aunt Ino! Can't we please stay? I want to see how Hokage-sama does the jutsu thingy! Pleasseeee????" It was Asuka again and Naruto knew that one day, not in this time line, this one was soon coming to an end, one day that curious and nature and desire for knowledge would make him a fine shinobi. He was doing this so that, that would happen. A better future instead of this hellish one.

They all left until the only ones that remained were Hinata and Kia, Kakashi, Jiraiya, Sakura and Gaara.

They stood there around him looking at and waiting for his next move or words. When finally the old sannin spoke up.

"Naruto." He sighed, "There is no other option is there?" He then muttered under his breath just loud enough for them to hear. "You're to god damn stubborn for your own good gaki. Ha, your just like your father..."

The blond let a small smile slip by when he heard the last part before responding, "Even if there _was_ another way Jiraiya I probably wouldn't take it anyway. After all, this way I will be able to save people who have died. Asuka will have parents and the children won't have to live in a time of war. Even though as it stands, this is the only option."

Jiraiya still had a few more questions. "What if none of this does happen. What if you will have changed so much that it will be even worse? What if you are never Hokage? What if-" Kakishi cut him off here

"I see, and Hokage-sama." His eye shifted slightly, "The ones that you are going to save... Were you including Haku and Zabuza as well?"

The Hokage's mouth twisted into a slight grin, "You know me too well sensei. And didn't I tell you to stop calling me that?"

The masked Shinobi gave a slightly amused grunt at the last comment.

As Hinata regarded her husband wearily Sakura asked a question that was on all of their minds.

"Naruto, when exactly are you planning on doing this?"

Her answer came as a pair of guarded sapphire eyes before, "Right now Sakura, I actually have a room prepared for it. Please follow me..."

As Naruto walked out of the room he failed to notice his wife's expression, for Hinata at hearing when he was going had frozen up, eyes wide, and had instinctively hugged her little girl closer to her. Upon feeling this Kia looked quizzically up at her mother and turning back towards the door before complaining slightly and pointing.

"Mommy! Daddy left! Come on lets go!"

Shaken out of her reverie, Hinata murmured a quick. "Hai, of course baby..." as she took off after the others.

* * *

When they entered the room that Naruto had indicated, they were slightly surprised to find it all white. You could barely see the lines that told where the floor, ceiling, or walls were, this effect made it seem as though they were floating in nothingness. The door that they had just come through was outlined in black so one could see their way out. The light in the mysterious room seemed to come from the walls themselves. 

As he motioned for them to stay against the wall that had the door, Naruto walked to where they could only guess was the far wall. While he cut his finger, he answered their unasked question.

"I need to draw some special seals in blood to achieve the summon."

They watched as the Rokudaime drew intricate looking seals on the walls in front of them and a large round one on the floor. All in his own blood.

When he finished he turned and faced them while walking to the edge of the circle on the ground and spoke.

"Gaara. If this doesn't work, either of it, please, please promise me one thing, that you will take Hinata, Kia, and everyone else, and that if possible to take them and run, run away from this place. That goes for you two as well Kakashi-sensei, Ero-Se-…Jiraiya-sensei."

The three nodded with an intense look in their eyes. The moment was so intense many failed to notice the respect he had shown the Sannin.

Gaara responded with, "Of course Naruto, you were my first friend and my best friend. It is my honor to help you and protect your precious people." _'I owe you that much.'_

The others nodded once again in agreement.

Naruto smiled a small soft and warm smile and uttered a low "Thank you." Before going over to Hinata and kissing both her and his daughter on their forehead. He whispered in her ear. "I love you Hina-chan. Never forget that." He kissed her once more, on the lips this time, before saying good-bye, she realized by now that it was indeed good-bye and she was horrified, to Kia and Sakura.

The blond once again walked back to the edge of the circle and after flashing them a smile, performed some hand seals and placed his hands on the edge of the seal as he shouted out, "Seishou meshi: Hoka seken fukei!" (spirit summons: other world guardians)

The seals all around the room started glowing a bright red and purple throwing everything else into shadow.

Then just as suddenly as it started it stopped and there before them stood two people, one of which had grey wings that when parted revealed a young beautiful lady with white shoulder length hair and glinting mischievous dark violet eyes.

The other, also a woman had light sky blue tinted hair that was up in a ponytail with some bangs in the front with calm silver eyes.

"Aah..." The first one sighed in content before continuing. "Finally! A summon to the mortal world! It couldn't have come at a better time too! Shinigami-sama was starting to get on my nerves about the soul increase lately. How about you Toki-chan?"

The other (If one was to guess was Hitotoki) sighed as well except this time in exasperation. "Kiara, please, this is serious!" She then turned to Naruto. "Boy, you called on us to send you back in time. Correct?"

For the first time they noticed the soft lines framing her eyes on her otherwise youthful face and understood why she sounded grandmotherly. After grumbling to himself _'I'm not a boy…'_ Naruto then bowed to the figure and replied, "Hai Hitotoki-sama, Kiara-sama, that is what I wish of you, if you would grant me that honor, that is."

He looked up to see Hitotoki smiling softly and Kiara giggling silently into her hand before she said, "Naruto you didn't even have to ask! I have been watching over you since you were about two years old. Of course there were times when Shinigami-sama had to hold me back from doing something... unpleasant to those villagers of yours. But all in all I've pretty much watched over you your whole life. (A/N: Not like that you pervs! get your mind out of the gutter!) Although... Shinigami-sama will be pissed off at me if we do this..."

This had Naruto slightly worried but those worries were abolished when the other figure snorted slightly, "He'll understand Kiara and if he doesn't I'll make him and get a grant from Kami okay? Anyway if there is no other questions lets start the ritual."

The others watched in silence as the two spiritual figures took their positions and instructed Naruto on where to stand. He smiled at them one last time before closing his eyes and concentrating on the time and place he wanted to end up in.

Hinata was scared, she felt like part of herself was going to disappear along with Naruto, like she was about to be ripped in two. When the blond started glowing, she felt her body start to move on its own. She placed her hand gently over Kia's eyes quietly putting her to sleep. Hinata had tears in her eyes as she shoved her daughter into Sakura's shocked arms and ran towards her now brightly glowing husband screaming in her mind, _'Narutooo!!!!'_

Just as she touched his arm a blinding red and white light flashed and sizzled through the room, signaling that the ritual was complete...

**

* * *

A/N:** Hehehehe!! Cliffie! I'm evil! Well at least I think I am. Also I'm sorry if I kind of sound weird in my word choice it is not my fault! We haven't done any speech when writing stories in school yet (my teacher is lax on that stuff we mostly do book reviews and other... stuff). So what do you think happened to Hinata? o.O and do you like Kia? I think she's cute! Please REVIEW!! if you have any questions! 

**B/N:** God she gets better every chapter I am serious. Pretty soon she won't even NEED me… It makes me sad. She's the only excuse I have for slacking off on my writing… I mean… Review please?

PLEASE... please, please, please, PLEASE!

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	4. Night's Awakenings

Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed!!! I didn't think I would get this much! Also a VERY big thank you to those who have put this tory on their favorite's list and in their C2's!!! It has been added to five already!! I didn't think I'd get added to any. Anyway here's the fourth chappie!!

Beta's Note: Eerrr… was sup?

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto although I do own Kiara and Hitotoki! Hehe and Kiara's very odd adittude!!!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**"/'Kyuubi Talking'/"**

_**'Kyuubi Thinking' **_

Note: Flashbacks are in Italics so you will have to watch if they are thinking or talking.

* * *

Revelance of the Future

Chapter 4

Night's Awakenings

By: burnstar

Edited/Beta Read by: LettaR999

* * *

The flash had subsided slightly and time had stopped for time cannot go foreword if one is going back, the only reason this was still here was because they had not yet reached their destination.

The two legendary spirits looked at each other and said the thing that was on both of their minds...

"Oh shit..."

* * *

Kiara and Hitotoki were speeding through the time chasm discussing how to fix this problem.

"Toki, you find them and slow them down. It shouldn't be too hard seeing as how they were both out cold. I will go to where they were supposed to end up and arrange things around so a rift doesn't appear in the continuum."

"Affirmative, Ki, just remember that it is her right hand to his left upper arm. They have to be touching there and no where else or their souls could cause mayhem and destroy the place they wished to save."

"I know and don't worry everything will be fine. Anyway I should hurry up if I want to get there before them."

With a last confirmation Kiara zapped out of existence and reappeared over Konoha as it was fourteen years in the past.

* * *

As such, the Hokage monument was home to four heads, Hatake Kakashi was brown nosing a book, Asuma was alive, Rock Lee had both arms and Yamanaka Ino was a crazed Sasuke fan girl. Aaah the past truly was great now wasn't it?

* * *

A white haired, winged figure stood atop the third Hokage's stone head looking out over the village.

_'Hmm, the Hyuuga compound... where is it?'_ Kiara thought pointing to various areas of the village. _'Deserted Uchiha place, Nara, Jounin apartments, Hokage tower, Market place, weird ANBU thing with guards... Ha! There it is!'_

She spread her wings and took off towards the Hyuuga compound.

Avoiding the guards Kiara slipped in through the correct bedroom window and quietly observed a sleeping twelve year old girl with short midnight blue hair.

_'Hinata eh? Heh heh, wont you be in for a surprise when you wake up...'_

The soul angel then went into her spirit form and inserted herself into Hinata's body and took control of her mind and body alike.

The now puppeted heiress opened her eyes and smirked. _'Success.' _She got out of bed and put on her day clothes. Just before jumping out of the window she remembered to have 'Hinata' leave a note to make sure that no one would get too suspicious or worried.

Taking out a pen and piece of paper 'Hinata' wrote a note explaining why she wouldn't be there in the morning.

_I have gone out to do some extra training before the Genin team placements. I will be back after I meet with my sensei._

_I'm sorry if I have worried you._

_-Hinata_

The possessed girl then grabbed her bag for the next day, turned, and jumped out of the window.

* * *

Across the village the window to one Uzumaki's apartment opened just as the clocked ticked to three in the morning. It had taken half an hour but Kiara had finally maneuvered Hinata's body (Hinata's conciousness is asleep) through Naruto's living room window and onto the floor.

Kiara's spirit form exited Hinata and solidified just in time to catch the girl before she hit the ground. She then layed the Hyuuga on the carpet and arranged her around so that her right arm was over to the side.

The angel turned and quietly tiptoed into the bedroom and scooped the obliviously sleeping blond boy before going back to the living room and laying him next to his future wife. Carefully as to not wake them Kiara placed Hinata's right hand around Naruto's left bicep.

_'Thank ka... umm... what or who is a gods apprentice supposed to thank? Well whatever, thank kami that Naruto lives alone and that they are both pretty heavy sleepers or this could've been quite messy...…'_ That is when Kiara finally took in her surroundings and shuddered. _'Like this room, ick.'_

She shivered at the thought of what kind of questions she might be pelted with before writing a quick note explaining a few things and hopping over to the window sill.

* * *

At 4 a.m. one would have seen a mysterious figure come out of a window of an apartment on the third floor before shutting said window and promptly vanishing into thin air.

At 4:01 a.m. you would have seen a faint reddish purple glow from the same room. Also if one was to look in said room you would see two twelve year olds unconsciously holding each other in their sleep, upon instinct. A comfortableness and familiarity not unlike those of older married couples.

Very interesting events indeed.

* * *

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The sun rays just peaked over the horizon and through the half open curtains when his eyes opened. He looked around his living room from so long ago before his eyes rested on a clock.

It read 5:31 a.m.

_'Uhgg... so early... and why do I have a slightly detached feeling? At least the time travel worked, but why... do I feel like someone is laying on me? Someone like...'_ Naruto half sat up and stared at the person hugging him. _'Hinata-chan...' _He inwardly groaned at remembering what happened.

_'Then again that **was** her promise...' _

_oOoOo-Flashback-oOoOo_

_Naruto was sitting on a rock over looking a small stream when Hinata entered into the clearing. He had his head in his hands and seemed to be trying to control himself from destroying innocent plant life..._

_"Hinata-chan?" His voice sounded strangled._

_She quickly crossed the clearing and took him in her arms. Whispering, she told him "I'm here Naruto-kun, I'm here."_

_Hinata knew why he was like this, earlier that day he had returned to the village from a dangerous high ranking mission bruised an bloody. He quietly told Tsunade, for they were only nineteen and she was still alive, the details of what happened before suddenly bolting into the forest._

_She had found out moments later that he had killed Sasuke. She had run after him and this is where Hinata had found him._

_"Hinata-chan... He left me and now he's dead, Asuma left, Izumo and Kotetsu. What if everybody does?! Everybody but me? I can't handle being alone again! Not again, not ever... not again, please not again..." He trailed of at the end as tears streaked down his face._

_Hinata hugged him closer and kissed him comfortingly on his forehead. "Shh Naruto it's okay. Shh you'll never be alone again. You know why?" He looked up at her like a toddler would to their parents when they said that they could fix a boo-boo._

_"Because I'll be here Naruto-kun, forever, I promise. And I never go back one my word."_

_oOoOo-End Flashback-oOoOo_

Naruto half sat half lid for the next ten minutes waiting for his now girlfriend, he supposed, to wake up with a slightly pained look on his face.

When she did, to say the least she was stunned. _'So this was when he wanted to come back to, although how did I get here?' _It was then that Hinata seen the slightly angry and pained look on his face.

"Naruto-kun--?"

He sighed, frusturated and rubbed his temples as she moved to sit next to him.

"Hinata, there was a reason why I didn't ask you to come here with me."

Immediately the blond could see the question marks all over her face.

"You see..." He sighed yet again. "The moment after we left our time, it was destroyed or unraveled if you wish to call it that. It is like taking two steps forward and three steps back, as if the steps that you took didn't even happen, the only evidence is that our memory... remembers it. To say.. the least everyone we knew will never be, at least not that version of them."

"B-b-b-but what about-" She gulped nervously trying to hold back tears though a few leaked out anyway. "What about other things? Good things..." Hinata trailed off.

Naruto hugged her, knowing that she was thinking about Kia. "Shh... Don't worry not all things have to be stopped. Those things will still happen again." He kissed away her tears and with a sly smirk on his face he added. "We just need to wait until we're old enough." At which the blue haired girl giggled at.

"Come on lets get breakfast Hina-chan, then I'll see if I can manifest Kyuubi to see if there have been any side effects."

She nodded and they both stood up and walked into the little apartment kitchen.

Hinata paused at the table while Naruto continued to the fridge.

"Naruto-kun, there's a note."

He turned from the fridge, carton of eggs in hand, and walked back to her. After he read it over a few times he looked slightly amused as he walked back to the fridge with a few offhand comments.

"I was wondering why it was so clean here..."

When Hinata read the note she soon realised why he said that.

_Naruto,_

_Do you have **any **idea of how close you were to **destroying** this time line instead of fixing it!!! You are one god damn lucky bastard. You and Hinata had to be touching or else... **Kablam! **Be thankful I brought her to your place for you. Say hi to everyone for me!_

_Kiara_

_P.S. I cleaned up your place a bit, it was worse the when I took up office under Shinigami-sama and I thought that was bad._

The girl sweat dropped slightly at the post script. She still remembered when she had to beat that out of him.

"Hinata-chan, what do you want for breakfast?"

"What ever your having."

"Fried eggs and ramen?" Even after all that he still loved ramen.

"Sure."

While she got the dishes and Naruto cooked Hinata asked a few questions.

"So what day exactly did you choose for us to come back too?"

"Genin team placement." The blond laughed a little. "I don't think I could fail the exam that badly and still pass again."

Hinata giggled a bit too. "Are you going to get some other clothes or are you going to wear the same shade of orange..." She paused to think a bit, "For the next eight years?"

His eyes were the size of saucers as he looked at her and brought their breakfast to the table, "Hell no! I'm wearing something different this time!" He shuddered at the though of wearing that walking fashion crisis again, how could he have been so stupid before?!

"Anyway here's breakfast, I'll see if I can get Kyuubi."

He closed his eyes as Hinata sat down.

_'Kyuubi? Are you there?'_

**'I'm here kit. Don't bother repeating everything I heard it all and your seal retained the revisions we had done to it."**

_'Good so that means that you can come out and talk to us right?'_

**'Correct. I shall be out in a moment.'**

Naruto snapped open his eyes as Kyuubi's red chakra started to leak out and create the compact form of a small one foot tall fox. The chakra flashed once before solidifying and hopping onto the table to watch them eat.

When they finished Hinata was the first to speak, "Hello Kyuubi."

**"Good morning Hinata, how are you faring with... this?"**

"Pretty good…I think."

**"Good"**

It was now when Naruto decided to interject. "So Kyuubi what were you saying earlier about chakra or something?"

**"Yes, your chakra that has been used up on the journey, you used up about three quarters of the stores and Hinata used about half since she was... a tag-along. Anyway this chakra usage has fortunately evened you up a bit but if we don't do something eventually all of the extra chakra will come back to you and your bodies aren't big enough to handle it and will turn to poison against you."**

"What are you talking about Kyuubi?"

**"What I'm talking about, Naruto, is that you used a lot of chakra to get here and slowly over the course of the day you will get it back and with out something to seal it with it will poison you."**

"So what do you suggest?"

**"Sealed chakra stores, a five point for you kit, and a three point for Hinata."**

He looked thoughtful and asked one last question. "Kyuubi, should we do this before or after school?"

The small fox practically groaned out loud, the answer should have been obvious.** "Right now you dolt! It's already six-thirty and you have school at quarter to nine. Get a move on!"**

At that Naruto did groan as Kyuubi de-materialized and returned to him.

"Well I guess we should get going. Wait for a minute while I go get dressed since... you... already are?" He finished awkwardly meanwhile Hinata just smiled and waved him off.

He came out of the room a few minutes later wearing a black t-shirt with his red swirls on the shoulders, orange pants and forehead protector on his right bicep. He had obviously ditched his jacket.

"Okay! Are you ready to go Hina-chan?"

"Yes. Lets go. Where are we going to do the seals?"

"On top of the Hokage Monument."

"Oh that one!" He just smiled and led the way out the door, locking it behind them.

* * *

They arrived at the clearing about fifteen minutes later.

"Hinata-chan, unfortunately I need a bit of blood..."

She quickly complied, slitting her finger and letting the blood pool in a small bowl she had in weapons pouch. Acting swiftly to get his over with (He didn't like handling her blood) he drew seals around both of her wrists and one in between her collar bones to form a triangle, thus a three point seal. Creating hand seals he yelled out _"Sansou Fuunin: Chakra Taten no Jutsu!" _After pumping the right amount of chakra to activate the seals, he left Hinata to put the amount of chakra in as she desired.

Doing the same process with himself in his own blood, the only deviations were that he added two seal points, one to each shoulder. _"Gosou Fuuin: Chakra Taten no Jutsu."_ After adding the chakra he watched the seals slowly fade away before taking Hinata's hand and going back to the village. They had to meet their sensei's soon.

* * *

A/N: OMG! That took soooo long! My fingers hurt! sorry to keep you waiting! I got half banned from the comp (and my paper actually) last weekend that's why it took so long!! I'm soo sorry! Anyway what did you think?? Any suggestions??? well REVIEW and tell me what you think!

B/N: Well I guess I'm a translator too! Alright then I am sorry if I offend some people please correct any mistakes I may make…

Jutsus:

_Chakra Taten no jutsu _(Chakra Store Jutsu) Used to store chakra. It's basically a Chakra bank, the higher the number of focal points the more chakra it will store.

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	5. Glaring Blushes

Authors Notes: Thank you for all of the reviews!!! (Although 44 people have this on their alert list and I only have like 12 reviews tops for the last chapter.) Anyway I'm soooo sorry about this being so late! I had a lot of stuff to do AND I have exams next week --''' not fun. But after exams I have a week off so I should get another chapter out.

Also some of you were asking about what happened that was so bad in the future I finally thought of one! (Yes I know I started this without having that worked out) and you'll find out sometime between the wave arc and the chunnin exams when Nar- no not telling! Also I finally figured out what I will do about Sasuke with Oro and Hinata's match with Neji. I'm so sad ' I have part of the chunnin exams worked out but I've got no idea about the wave arc TT.TT oh well I pull something out.

Anyway, Onward!

Beta Notes: This is a great chapter. It is also forming out to be a great story. Longest chapter to date. Don't ask me what happens because I have to wait it out just like the lot of you. I just get it a bit earlier and have a slight say in what goes in and out. Once again just spelling and grammar mistakes as usually not that many. She doesn't have spell check or anything so it is not her fault.

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**'Kyuubi talking'**

_**'Kyuubi thinking'**_

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and he's doing a great job! spoilers In the latest chapter it has been confirmed that Kurenai is indeed pregnant with Asuma's(R.I.P) child!!! And if one was to look right Kurenai is wearing a wedding ring! It fit right into my story! End spoilers

* * *

Revelance of the Future

Chapter 5

Glaring Blushes

By: burnstar (B/N: That sexy writer)

Beta-ed By: LettaR999 (B/N: That sexy editor)

* * *

They were a few blocks from the academy when Naruto turned back to look at the monument.

_'Four heads... It's been a long time since I've seen that... I defiantly have a lot of work to do.'_

"Naruto-kun?" He was jolted back to the present slightly. "Is anything the matter?"

He shook his head and gave her the wide foxy grin that he hadn't used for so long before grabbing her hand and dragging her down the road. "Come on Hinata-chan! Let's go see everyone!"

The said girl just giggled helplessly as she was dragged away.

* * *

The twenty-two year old chunnin looked around the class room while shuffling papers on hid desk.

Only a few students were already here as it was still quite early, among them were Uchiha Sasuke, the well known human iceberg, iceberg because his ego was so big it could fill the Hokage tower and still have plenty to spare. A few others were Shino from the Aburame clan, Nara Shikamaru, his best friend Akimichi Chouji , and Inuzuka Kiba.

He was about to go back to his papers when he heard some shuffling outside.

* * *

"Come on Naruto-kun. Let's get in before everyone else comes."

Hinata nudged him slightly, trying to make him move forward.

_'Sasuke's in there. I know it, but but but-'_ He tilted his head so that his eyes were in shadow. _'I'm not sure if I'm ready to face him yet...'_

It was now that the almighty 'sarcasm' demon butted in.

**'Baah! If your going to whine like this I'm leaving. Besides-'** He yawned.** 'I already know what's gonna happen, I'm outta here.'**

_'What? Kyuubi! Stop!!!'_

But he was too late. Luckily though there was no one else apart from him and Hinata to see him suddenly start glowing red. About a second later a small red fox appeared out of no where, gave the blond, if possible, a cocky grin then scampered off down the hall.

"Naruto...? Wha...?"

"Nothing Hinata-chan, he was apparently bored was all. Let's go in."

Thoroughly annoyed now. Naruto forgot all about a certain Uchiha, grabbed Hinata's hand and barged into the classroom.

* * *

The door opened and the two preteens walked into the classroom holding hands. Before anything else they looked down the steps to see their teacher from so long ago.

_'Wow... Iruka-sensei is actually alive again!'_ They both thought. It hadn't hit them until just then that they were _really_ in the past. It was a miracle, no more then a miracle for them. It took all of Naruto's self control to not run up to the man and hug him. It was five years since they had seen him last, he had died shortly after Kia was born. And here he was alive and breathing the man Naruto considered a father or older brother figure.

It was at this moment when the two noticed the strange looks they were getting, one of which was from Sasuke himself. Naruto noted this and his eyes narrowed, he was still unsure what he would do about him. The blond actually considered killing him but quickly tossed the idea away, this time he was going to do things right. None of his precious people were going to die.

He raised one of his eyebrows and asked "Huh? What is it teme?"

The Uchiha's eye's flickered down for a second before back around in his seat to brood.

Both Hinata and Naruto looked down to see their hands still intertwined. They immediately lat go, not wanting to arouse too much suspicion on the first day and took seats in the row across from Sasuke and behind Shino.

"Well Hinata-chan... It has begun."

"Yes. But what exactly has begun?" She was slightly confused on that matter. They had yet to discuss their plans.

"Everything, I'll tell you about it later. For now... I'm going to go and see if I can get my best friend back." He winked as he grinned and stood. Hinata smiled and nodded as he went.

(A/N: I had the perfect scene for right here but... I forgot it TT.TT so this one will have to do. B/N Great job. You ruined the story. That could have been what could have gotten us the big times. GOSH. A/N: It's not my fault! Well okay a little...)

Naruto sat down next to the dark haired boy with, if possible, a nervous thump.

"What do you want dobe?" Sasuke wasn't interested but he knew that he wouldn't go away until he said something.

"To... ask you something..." The younger shinobi said this as if he wanted to say it for a long time. "Why… Why do you wish to kill your brother… And by yourself even? Without any help? Without trying to form bonds. To make friends."

To say the very least this question, this query shocked the young avenger to his very core.

_'How does he know!? I've never told anyone!'_

But the other boy continued in the same low voice. "I have a small piece of advice for you... The man who seeks power and finds it, will always be trumped and surpassed in leaps and bounds by the one who has achieved power, and only used it when there was no other choice."

Now Sasuke was livid. Who was this... this dobe to talk like this!

"How do you know about that...!" His voice was thick and dripping with quiet venom.

Naruto then did something that was completely out of character, (at least to Sasuke) even more so then what was said within the last few minutes, he put on one of those looks when people are dealing with particularly slow children and sighed. "You're kind of obvious you know."

With that he stood up. He left one final statement. "Who hasn't heard of the Uchiha Massacre and what took place that night. Anybody with common sense can put two and two together." With that he left the Uchiha boy fuming (even more so when he shot a grin over his shoulder at him) and once again sat next to Hinata.

* * *

"So Naruto-kun wha--"

"HA! SAFE!!!"

She was interrupted by none other then Yamanaka Ino, and Haruno Sakura.

Hinata looked away from the sight of the two bickering girls when she heard Naruto shift (B/N: I laughed at this word. Before it came to me there was absolutely NO 'f') and stand up.

"Nar-" She was interrupted yet again but this time by Naruto who quieted her with a wink and playful grin as he began to walk towards the squabbling girls.

_'What on earth is he doing...?'_

It had been about five minutes since he had spoken to Sasuke and gotten him piping mad, he decided this might just get him to lose that extra layer of ice he added himself... maybe.

"Hey! Sakura!" He yelled in true hyper activeness that he was known for.

"What do you want Naruto! I don't have time for you right now!" She had to work out a way to beat Ino-pig and get Sasuke to fall madly in love with her! Although... Naruto certainly did look better without his jacket... Aah! Bad thoughts! Bad thoughts! Bad!

Thankfully she was broken out of this train of thought at what Naruto said next: "So you don't want to sit next to Sasuke?"

"What!"

"Okay, Okay! Sasuke said that," He could feel said boy's glare burning into the back of his skull. "That he wanted you to sit next to him!"

"Sasuke-kun?!" And in a daze like trance the pink haired girl left a fuming Ino and wandered over to the seat next to Sasuke and sat down.

Naruto almost forcefully had to keep himself from laughing at everyone's faces especially Ino's and the rest of the rookie genin's that had only recently came in. He gave a wide mischievous grin before going back to his seat.

Seeing this as a good time to intervene Iruka called everyone to attention.

"Class! If you wouldn't mind I would like to begin!"

He smiled to himself as everyone turned to face him. _'They have grown so much...'_

"As you know everyone in this room has graduated and passed the genin exams! Congratulations! But now the hard part begins, you will go on missions, protect Konoha, and be put in various situations of danger. A ninja's life is not an easy one and I wish you all the best of luck." The chunnin sensei paused for a second to look at the young ninja hopefuls before starting once more. "And without further ado I will read out your team placements."

Everyone seemed to sit straighter at his words.

"Team one..."

Naruto and Hinata talked quietly until they heard...

"Team seven - Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura and..." He let the tension build up slightly before, "Uchiha Sasuke."

There was a chorus of groans and moans and one squeal of delight (Sakura's). 'CHA! Beat that Ino-pig!'

"Okay. Now everyone settle down... Team eight - Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuuga Hinata and Aburame Shino. Team nine..."

Hinata turned and waved to her teammates. Naruto could see the slight shimmering and remembrance of happy times in her eyes when she turned back around.

"And Finally team ten - Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino. That is the last of the teams, your sensei's will be here shortly and once again I wish you good luck."

With that Iruka gave one final smile before heading through the door.

* * *

Sensei's came and went, Hinata's shortly after Iruka had left. (Naruto gave her a kiss on the cheek when she went, drawing many strange stares and three shades of red on Hinata's part) Now the only team left (again) was team seven. And Naruto being Naruto started doing something rather... odd. It was a form of chakra control really. He had discovered it one day when he was bored. You just channeled your chakra out into a thick string and changed its composition slightly so you could see it. Currently he was making the string chakra do figure 8's around his hands.

"What are you doing?"

Startled, he dissimilated the chakra and looked up to see Sakura staring at him or rather his hands.

"Oh, you mean this?" He started the chakra back up for an example.

She nodded in fascination.

"It's a form of chakra control. Basically a chakra light show. If you get good you can make it bigger and change the color too." He accentuated this by making a miniature northern light's above their heads. "I can show you how if you want."

"Okay..."

He spent about the next fifteen minutes teaching her.

"Okay hold your hands about six inches apart give or take."

As Sakura did this he nodded. "Great, now channel chakra between your hands." Sensing the slight fluctuations in her chakra he gave another nod. "Good, try to imagine the chakra visible, flowing down your arms and changing. At first the color will be blue, that is the natural color of chakra for humans. Usually it takes a lot of power for it to be visible but this is a way around it..."

After a few minutes of concentration Sakura finally called out. "I got it!"

Naruto looked over, it was weak and wispy but defiantly there.

"Excellent, now try to make it stronger and brighter?"

As she was doing that, the blond went over to the Uchiha. "Do you want to know how to do it too?"

The dark haired boy snorted obviously thinking it was a waste of time. "Why? It's a useless technique, it doesn't do anything." He apparently wasn't listening to Naruto's previous explanation.

He once again put on the face resembling what one would adorn while talking to a small child. "No. Actually, it increases chakra control and chakra stores, therefore helping you increase the amount that you can use."

Sasuke was still furious at him about what the idiot did earlier but he had to become stronger. Even if it was coming from the dobe. "Heh, fine..."

And that is how the future Rokudaime ended up teaching his teammates how to essentially make pretty colored chakra.

After about half an hour of practicing Sakura asked. "Where did you learn this Naruto?"

Sasuke glanced over trying not to look interested, but still listening.

Naruto wasn't sure if he should tell her the answer but did anyway. These were his friends right? In the future perhaps, but still his friends. "Ummm... Actually I discovered it one day when I was bored. It's cool to look at after all and it's training too, so all the better."_ 'Not to mention the fact that Kia always loved it when I put on a show for her..."_

"Heh yeah right dobe."

"It's true! Even ask Hinata! She was the first one I showed!"

It was now that Sakura perked up again. "What_ is _going on between you and Hinata? _Everyone_ saw you kiss her on the cheek you know..."

"Well uh, um..." He became flustered and red at this point. "J-j-j-just practice the thing you were doing!"

The blond shinobi then spun on his heels and stomped to the front of the room and started playing out pictures of chakra on the wall, starting with a figure banging his head on a tree to strangling a figure that looked strikingly similar to Sasuke.

* * *

Two hours later this was how he found them. The pink haired girl had her head resting on her arms, exhausted. The Uchiha was staring at his hands that had wisps of blue appearing here and there with a scowl on his face. The blond was doing the most perplexing thing. He was making strange pictures on the wall, one humanoid figure looked vaguely like the blond the other like himself.

_'What is going on here... and why is the pink one so tired...'_

The blond now identified as Naruto from his file, was the first to notice him.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei!" He bounded up and over to him while the other two's heads jerked up at the out burst to look at him.

_'How does he know my name?'_

As the others were looking at him he said the first words since entering the room.

"My first impression... You're strange... Meet me on the roof in five minutes."

With that the silver haired ninja disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto meanwhile had a small smirk on his face as he thought_ 'Same old Kakashi-sensei, he has no idea of how glad I am to see him and his weird perverted ways. At least this time he didn't say that he hated us.' _and "Last one up is the Hokage's nose picker!" Before dashing out the door to find the stairs to the roof.

"Nose picker?" Sakura murmured as Sasuke shook his head dreading the thought of staying on the same team before following the boy to the roof.

* * *

Four minutes later they were all on the roof with Kakashi in front of them.

"Well now that we're all here, how about we start with introductions? Likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future?"

Sakura raised her hand. "Sensei how about you go first so we know what to do?"

"Fine. My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have no need to tell you my likes or dislikes. I have many hobbies. As for dreams for the future... well maybe if your lucky you'll learn that one day." He quickly cut off his short monologue. "Blondie you start."

_'All we really found out was his name...'_

It was then that the time traveling shinobi started talking. "Name's Uzumaki Naruto. I like training, Hinata-chan-" Sakura snickered slightly while Naruto pouted at her. "I also like ramen and anyone else who is part of my precious people. I dislike people who judge others before they get to know them as well as traitors. My hobbies are spending time with my friends. My dreams for the future are to become the greatest Hokage this village has ever seen, protect my precious people, help a certain someone deal with a certain something and to deal with a certain person before they can do a certain something..." _'Before he kills them again...' _He inhaled due to the fact he had said that all in about one breath.

There was one thing on all of their minds, _'Okay that was weird... and confusing.'_

"Okay... Pinky your next."

_'Pinky? Who does he think he is? Getting off at calling me pinky!'_ Inner Sakura roared while on the outside she remained calm but slightly aggravated.

"My name is Haruno Sakura, I like..." She glanced at Sasuke and did a classic fangirl giggle and blush, "My hobby is..." Giggle and another blush. "My dream for the future is..." A louder giggle and a darker blush blush but this time combined with a squeal. Then she stopped all together and adorned a slight scowl, "And I hate Ino-pig!"

_'Great…'_ "You Mr. Brooder. Next."

Sasuke's eyes shifted to Kakashi as he started. "My name's Uchiha Sasuke. I don't particularly like anything, I dislike a lot of things. My dream... no aspiration is to kill a certain man and to restore my clan."

_'Sasuke-kun is sooooo cool!'_

Naruto snickered silently at this, _'You better hold true to that last one this time Sasuke.'_

Kakashi sighed as he contemplated his team. _'Great just great. No, it's fan FREAKING tastic. a brooding avenger, and a fan girl in love with the idea of falling in love. at least one seems to have his head screwed on right. And from the one from the least likely of places too, considering his past...'_

"Okay guy's, Sakura. Meet me at six a.m. tomorrow at training ground number three dash seven (B/N I know everybody says seven so no… it's THREE this story is original! A/N:Fine. 3 -7 evil grin.) for your survival test."

Sakura once again spoke up. "But sensei, we already took our test."

"That's what you think, that test was only to separate the total idiots from the ones with at least some hope. But this one is the real deal, if you fail you get sent back into the academy, and it has a sixty-six percent failure rate. So be ready. Dismissed."

He watched their faces as they slowly started realizing that they were dismissed. Sakura's face was of shock, Sasuke's didn't reveal anything but grim annoyance, and Naruto, well it was a mixture of determination and thoughtfulness.

As they began to stand up he added. "Oh and don't eat, you'll throw up." Without another second the copy nin disappeared.

_'Damn pervert... I hoped he would have forgotten that.'_

* * *

A/N: Heh heh 'sweatdrop' well what did you think? Even if it was... well you know. It was a pain in the ass for sure. For me at least. Letta did a great job editing! This would suck if not for him! Anyway I was wondering if you checked my profile you would see that I have this idea for making a slight partner-ish story. This would be dealing with things that happened before the time reversal and you guys could vote or something well give me idea's for it. Right now with that Kyuubi part I have a great idea for him with Kia coughsleepcough It'll be cute that one anyway. Also you could say How did this person die or whatever. Anyway you guys vote if you want it! It'll be called Remenants of a Past Life. I do like words with 'R's don't I?? Well see ya!

B/N: See! It was good! Even if it was only a slight info chapter. It was still quite interesting. I guess I have to go write my story now……. Bye bye for now!

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	6. Small Differences

Authors Notes: Hey guys! Sorry this is sooo late! I had exams! TT.TT I hate history! Grrr! It was horrible! I thank everybody for all of the reviews! Yay! I got over 50!!! and 19 C2's eeeep! I'm so happy! Thanks so much! Also It thank my beta so much cause without him this would be a big pile of crap! Anyways on with the chapter!

Beta Notes: It's my fault this is so late. I am sooo sorry. I got it late, it didn't send after I finished it. And I took forever. Poo.

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**'Kyuubi talking'**

_**'Kyuubi thinking'**_

Disclaimer: B/N Due to Kris' absolute lack of Disclaimer knowledge it is my duty as her beta to do this for her. As such you will probably find it riddled with metaphors and an attempt at humor. Ahem We (burnstar and LettaR999) as writer and editor, respectively, mean no breach in the copyright of the Anime and Manga "Naruto". This is a fan made product. It has been created for the sole purpose of entertainment for the targeted readers. No gain of any kind, personal, monetary, or otherwise is brought from this fan made product.

A/N: You just had to put in alot of long words cause when I wrote this my brain was too tired to function properly...

* * *

Revelance of the Future

Chapter 6

Small Differences

Written By: burnstar (That awesome Writer)

Edited By: LettaR999 (That late Editor)

* * *

A few hours after his meeting with his 'new' team and Kakashi, Naruto was laying under a tree in training ground 3-7. He had told Hinata that he would wait here for her since she had decided that she would go home after meeting with her sensei and come back afterwards. It was around five now and he was starting to think about what should be fixed.

_'I defiantly know that at the very least I will try my hardest to save Haku and Zabuza. No I WILL save Haku and Zabuza. I will work out the details later. I have to get Sasuke and Sakura stronger. Especially Sasuke, I could have him train with me and I could get Hinata to train with Sakura to teach her medical jutsus.'_

Hinata had been interested in medicine since she was young but really got into the practice of it when she was sixteen, when she started to see how far Sakura and Ino had come with it. How ironic it would be that at first it was Sakura teaching her but now if everyone agreed, it would be the other way around.

His musings were interrupted when the lavender eyed girl entered his vision.

"Hi Naruto-kun! Sorry for making you wait so long. Father insisted on me tell him the details of my team over an early supper. I think he was surprised when I didn't stutter or blush..."

Naruto smiled and took her hand, leading her back to the village while replying, "That's okay Hina-chan, and I bet your going to be surprising him more and everyone else too. But... can we go to Ichiraku for ramen? I promise I won't have any more than four bowls!"

He gave her the dreaded puppy-dog-eyes no jutsu, knowing how much she didn't like him eating ramen for more then one meal of the day.

She quickly looked away trying not to give in and failing miserably. Nobody could resist those eyes. While on this train of thought she pondered, _'I wonder how good that would work on a mission...'_

"Fine. Fine. But-" Naruto cut his silent mental dance cold at that word. There just had to be a catch. "-But... I get to pick out your new outfit."

Well that wasn't so bad... Right?

The Kyuubi host was still contemplating this as he gave his okay and started walking in the direction of Ichiraku.

* * *

And now he could be found in the middle of a clothing store with Hinata fiddling around holding up random bits of clothing giving a calculating look before resting them on her arm or putting them back, all of course to the much bewilderment of the shopkeeper as she was doing this all very very fast.

_'I think Ino and Sakura may have rubbed off on her a little too much.'_ he thought with wide eyes watching his to-be wife.

**'You got that right kit. Remember what they did to Lee when they found out that he had a date?'** Both demon and host involuntarily shuddered at the unpleasant memory.

He was broken out of his reverie however when he found a small mountain of clothes in his arms, courtesy of Hinata.

"Go try them on Naruto-kun! Go, go, go!" With every 'go' she had lightly pushed him towards the change room with a slightly hyper smile on her face.

"I'm going! I'm going!" With that he stepped into to the small room and closed the door behind him leaving Hinata to sit on a chair by the mirror.

About three minutes later he stepped out of the room to show Hinata who immediately said, "Too Sasuke-ish. Try this!" And shoved another bundle of cloth into his arms that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. While Naruto was thinking.

_'Sasuke-ish? Blonde hair, blue eyes, tanned skin... How the hell do I look Sasuke-ish?'_

Upon his next show he received a too Neji-ish and another bundle. On his third a too Kiba-ish and on his fourth a too Lee-ish, LEE-ish for Kami's sake!

On the fifth time he went out though was a different matter. As Naruto stepped out of the change room he was met with the sight of blond and pink hair and a very red looking Hinata.

"Oh Naruto!" '_Uh oh those two… Even as kids I remember these two being horrible…'_

"H-hello Ino, Sakura." He greeted nervously. _'My nightmares are coming true!.'_ The two girls must have teamed up together to extract info out of Hinata when Naruto had walked in.

Ino was the first to reply. Excitedly she began, "Are you getting new clothes!" It was more of a statement then a question but he nodded anyway. "We'll help right Sakura!"

"Hai!"

With that last proclamation the two girls stated running about the shop picking things out. Hinata followed shortly after. The poor blond now had three shopping crazed girls handing him clothes and shoving him into the change room to try said outfit on.

_'Girls and their shopping... One thing that men will never understand.'_

Forty-five minutes and thirteen outfits later Hinata finally called out, "That one's perfect!" And so it was, even Ino and Sakura had small hearts in their eyes before remembering who the boy in front of them was (scary).

He had on black cargo pants with pockets on the side of his right knee and left calf outlined in crimson. Naruto wore a black short sleeved shirt that was open in the middle like Shikamaru's except that it was full length and had his spirals on the shoulders. Underneath he had a slightly red tinged fish net shirt that ended at his elbows. On the blonds hands were black metal plated gloves. Add to that black sandals and a black clothed hitai-ate an the right shoulder and you have one good looking blond.

Hinata turned and plucked something off a nearby rack before turning back and putting the object over his head. It was a red fox head. She looked at him with a small smile. "You'll find _something_ to do with it." Naruto gave in return one of his warm heart melting smiles.

"Well you two look really comfortable together. When did this happen?" Sakura smirked while Ino picked up where she had left off, "Yeah Hinata, you're not even blushing or stuttering!"

At the accusation both turned red and Naruto started stuttering, "W-w-w-what do you mean? I don't know what your talking about!"

As he started pushing the two to the door he prompted, "Wouldn't it be better if you two went and bothered Shikamaru or Sasuke or something?" Unresisting, they let themselves be pushed out of the shop and started walking down the street chattering to each other about the latest 'developments' giggling all the way. Even though Ino couldn't help but wonder, _'Why did he mention Shikamaru?'_

Naruto turned back to Hinata with an embarrassed grin, "Gossip queens I tell you."

The indigo haired girl giggled, "Naruto-kun, you go change back and I'll get some more copies of the outfit okay? Then we'll pay for it."

He nodded.

* * *

Ten minutes later they were walking down the street.

"I'll walk you to the Hyuuga compound, okay Hina-chan?"

She looked at him slightly confused before she remembered, _'Oh that's right we don't live in the same house anymore... Man! Why in the world this feel like divorce or separation or something! He's mine dammit!'_

While she was thinking this among... other things that if explained would 'ahem' defiantly drive the rating up 'ahem' Naruto waved a hand in front of her face. "Hina-chan?"

"Y-yes Naruto-kun? I was just a bit lost in thought was all."

"O...kay." He stared at her confusedly before taking her hand and leading her to her old home.

* * *

About a block from the Hyuuga compound Hinata stopped, "I'll continue on from here okay Naru-kun?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Why?"

"Well your remember when you first walked me home?"

The blond's left eye started twitching. "Oh... right... Let's not... experience that.. right now."

She giggled and kissed his nose, "Good night Naruto-kun, love you!"

He kissed her back on the cheek. "I love you too Hina-chan."

And with a final hug they both parted ways one to a large mansion and the other to a deserted apartment.

* * *

The first thing Naruto saw when he walked into his apartment was a small red fox.

"Okay Kyuubi. What did you do?"

The said fox gave a maniacal grin, "You'll see..." And without for a reply he dissapitated into red chakra and returned to Naruto's seal.

_'Grr... You stupid fox! Well whatever I'm going to bed.' _

All throughout the night Naruto could hear a bark like laugh in the back of his head.

* * *

Naruto blinked his eyes while looking at his clock. It read 5:30 am.

_'Shit! I'm gunna be late!'_

For the next twenty minutes he ran around his small apartment putting on his clothes that he had bought the previous day. However the fox boy paused in his kitchen.

_'Should I eat?'_

**'Go ahead kit and bring some for your teammates too.'**

_'Hey you know it's your fault that I'm late, kept me up with that annoying laughing of yours!'_

**'I know. It was quite amusing. Now hurry up!'**

_'Hai, hai. Two bars for me, two for Sasuke and two for Sakura. I'm going to need to but more later...'_

With that he dashed out of his home making a bee-line towards the training grounds.

* * *

_'Where is that dobe?'_ A dark haired boy thought accusingly from underneath a tree.

_'He just has to go and be late, leaving me with this-this fan girl! And I really need to pound him into the ground for what he said yesterday...'_

Five minutes later the missing genin decided to make his presence known.

The blond stumbled out of the bushes panting. Making a mental note to get weights he greeted his teammates.

"Morning Sasuke! Morning Sakura!"

They both looked at him before Sakura yelled, "Your late Naruto!"

_'Heh the dobe changed his look, about time.'_

He rubbed the back of his head before replying, "Heh heh well you see Sakura I was late because I decided to bring these for us." He opened his weapons pouch and produced the six bars. "I thought we should eat."

"But sensei told us not too!"

Sasuke just looked at them, Naruto could tell he was hungry.

"Well you see I was thinking-"

Sasuke snorted. "That's a first."

Without sparing him a look Naruto continued. "-that how would he know if we ate or not? I would rather puke then be lacking energy for such an important test. And judging from yesterday he won't be here for awhile. Want one?"

Without talking Sasuke grabbed two of the bars before going back to his tree. Seeing this Sakura grabbed two as well. _'If Sasuke thinks it's okay then it must be! Cha!'_

"Uuum… Or… Two… That works."

They sat in silence for awhile eating their small breakfast, each lost in their own thoughts.

_'Hn... The dobe is acting weird something isn't... right...'_

_'I wonder now that we're a team if I could get Sasuke-kun to go out with me! ...Hmmm These bars are pretty good. I wonder what's up with Naruto... Actually never mind he's being quiet.'_

_'So Kyuu you got the plan right?'_

**'Yep... I got to hand it to ya kit, Kakashi might get suspicious but it'll scare him wiggy first!'**

_"Excellent...'_ A pause, _'Wiggy?'_

* * *

Two hours later the long awaited copy nin finally decided to show his face.

"Good morning!"

What he received was a pink banshee. "Your **LATE**!!"

"Ah... Well you see I got lost on the road of life today!

"Liar!"

Naruto sighed, "Kakashi-sensei, only YOU could ever get lost on a one way road… With walls on both sides..."

They all sweat dropped. _'Did Naruto just… Make a GOOD joke???'_

All eyes went back to the jounin when he cleared his throat. "Well let's get started shall we?"

The three nodded.

"Alright you have until noon to get at least one of these two bells from me." He held up two shiny silver bells before strapping them to his belt. "Got that?"

They nodded but Sakura was starting to look nervous. "But there are only two bells sensei."

Kakashi smiled glad that someone had challenged him before ignoring the comment. "Whoever doesn't get a bell will be tied to that post and demoted back to the academy."

The atmosphere was tense waiting for the silver haired jounin to speak. He observed them carefully before giving them a slight warning. "Remember this, to get the bells you have to come at me with the intent to kill."

He heard hitched breath, saw wide eyes but didn't give them time to repent. "Get ready... Start!"

As they jumped into the trees Naruto made a shadow clone to go do his part. He had to find his teammates.

* * *

"Sakura!"

She looked over to where the voice had originated from.

"Naruto?" She asked as he dropped out of the trees. "What do _you_ want?" She was stressed enough as it was knowing that one of them would fail. But it was too much now that the unthinkable had happened. She had lost track of Sasuke!

"We have to work together to get the bells." The blond offered hoping that she would catch his drift.

"But there are only two bells and three of us. That means that we have to work against each other in order to pass."

Naruto shook his head. "Then what would be the point of putting us on teams?"

"So that-" Her eyes widened in the realization that dawned in front of her.

She had it. "Exactly Sakura... Now let's go get Sasuke."

Sakura nodded as the took off.

* * *

Meanwhile Kakashi was just about to finish with Naruto.

"_Sennin Goroshi!_

Naruto flew into the air and... poofed out of existence?

"Shadow clone... How?"

It was then that he was caught in a hail of shuriken and kunai.

_'Sasuke'_

* * *

It took about fifteen minutes to find the Uchiha boy. Which wasn't saying much as he was up to his neck in dirt... Literally.

"Sasuke." Naruto began as he and Sakura appeared in the clearing. "I have a plan to get the bells."

The boy sneered at him. "Humph, I can get a bell myself."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Sasuke… What would the point of being put into teams be then?"

Sakura also perked up, "But Sasuke-kun we're genin's and he's a jounin. The only way we'll be able to pass is if we work together!"

"Ha, yeah right. But the one who doesn't get a bell will fail. I'm not willing to take that risk."

Naruto sighed. He's hoped that Sasuke would come around easily. Guess he'd hoped just a little to hard.

"Listen. How about I be the one to not have a bell? Then if it is true that one of us has to go back it'll only be me alright?"

"Heh fine dobe. Your loss. Now get me out of here." _'Why is he doing this? He would never have done that last week...'_

_'Naruto... Something is definitely wrong.. Wait, why am I worrying! Me and Sasuke-kun are going to pass! CHA!'_

After the Uchiha survivor was out and had shaken the dirt out of his underwear (Sakura blushed when he started messing with his shorts.) Sasuke asked, "So dobe, what's this plan?"

The genin gave a wide foxy grin, "Okay this is what we're going to do. We..."

hahahahahaha

"Got that?"

They both nodded.

"Good, now watch this."

He puts his hands in the tora seal and started to conjure Kyuubi except that this time he pushed the chakra out through the ground so they wouldn't see the aura. A few seconds later the small form of the one tailed red fox stood before them. Sakura was immediately thinking of how cute it was.

"How did you do that?" Sasuke asked. How was it possible? There was no summoning jutsu intiated…

"I'll tell you later." He turned to the fox. "You know what to do. Scout out Kakashi-sensei. Go!"

As the fox ran off Sakura asked, "Why a fox?"

Naruto had a simple answer, "Forest, fox. Fox, forest. It fits in…" She couldn't argue with that logic.

Sasuke interjected annoyed, "Okay can we start this plan now?"

He received nods.

"Well let's go!"

* * *

A/N: Ya... um sorry about the delay! -.-''' We had a few technical and internet difficulties not to mention I had exams last week phew! On the other hand I got my report card!!! YAY!! And if anyone can guess my average I will write a short one shot thing and have it as the first chapter of my side story that I'm thinking of doing! Anyway tell me what you think!

grumbles I'll go write the next chapter now...

B/N: There wasn't much to fix in this one. Again, I'm so sorry that it's late.

Sennin Goroshi: Thousand Years of pain/death

R

E

V

I

E

W!!!!!


	7. Worries and Weapons

Author's Note: I'm so sorry that this took so long to get out guys!!! I just got sooooooooo wrapped up in life. I had school got a job (money!!!) Boyfriends (yes plural) and more exams as well as visiting relatives as well as major's writers block.

Also this chapter probably wouldn't have been done for another month if not for Pheonixmirage and distant6. These two people helped me get through my writer's block Pheonixmirage kicked me off of my butt to get to work and one of distant6's stories made inspiration hit me like a semi and sent me running around for ten minutes like a chicken with its head cut off looking for my notebook in which in the course of a hour I wrote eight pages.

Beta's Note: To be detirmined.

This chapter is un edited by letta because as soon as I was done typing I wanted to post it imediatly.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the mentioned references in this story.

"Talking"

_'thinking'_

**Kyuubi/Inner Sakura talking'**

_**'Kyuubi/Inner Sakura thinking'**_

* * *

Revelance of The Future

Chapter 7

Worries and Weapons

Author: Ginriku (changed from burnstar)

Editor: lettaR999

* * *

The fox looked at him. He looked at the fox. There was something wrong with this picture, but what was it? Well maybe the fact that the fox was grinning, yes grinning(!) at him in such an insane way that he almost expected an anvil to drop down on him at any moment in an almost comical Saturday morning cartoon fashion. That was until the little fox snickered and ran back into the forest at which the silver haired twenty-six year old sweat dropped at.

_What on earth was that all about?'_

* * *

"You did it Fuzzy?"

The little fox nodded before dissipating.

Naruto then turned to his teammates with a smirk. "Stage one complete. Stage two initiate. Sakura you got that genjutsu I showed you down. Right?"

"Yes but I'll only be able to hole it for a few moments though..." She sounded slightly nervous about the whole ordeal.

"That's fine he only needs to glimpse it anyway. Sasuke?"

The midnight haired boy turned to him. "Hn... I know what to do."

"Excellent. Alright let's go!"

With a last nod they all sped off to where their sensei was currently waiting.

* * *

"Kanton: Goukakyouu no Jutsu!"

Following the shout was a giant intense ball of flame making a bee-line for his head.

He deftly dodged to the right only to find himself covered in blonde haired clones holding him in place. When one of them shouted.

"Now Sakura!"

The Said genin jumped out in front of them and began a chain of around six hand seals. She stopped on hare and shouted out.

"Kikan Jitsu no Jutsu!" (Mirror of Reality Jutsu)

A mirror materialized out of thin air in front of the girl.

_'What the...?'_

It was then that the masked jonin noticed the image...

"I – I – I – I'm wearing a g – g – green tutu!!!!" He looked down at himself and all he seen was his jonin uniform. _'What?'_ Sakura giggled as the mirror faded. "Yep sensei but it's a special genjutsu that is not visible to the victim."

Naruto now joined in, "Exactly, but it is visible to everyone else... and cameras... Sasuke?"

The blonde and his clones lept away from their sensei, as soon as they were clear Kakashi heard a 'click' and out stepped Sasuke, camera in hand.

"Y – y – you never!" He pointed aghast at the black mail his students now had.

"Oh but that's not all sensei..."

He turned, _'Now what?'_ His eye widened as the shortest member of the team waved his little orange book in front of his face.

"Missing something?"

He made a dive for his precious book when the one holding it threw it high in the air. "Now!"

"Kanton: Goukakyouu no Jutsu!"

The speeding fire ball was enclosing in on the book as Kakashi lept after it and the Naruto clones went after him.

A few seconds later there was a cry of, "Sakura! Catch!" and the pink haired genin caught the two silver bells easily into her hands.

The clones poofed out of existence as her sensei and teammate once again landed on the ground. Devoid of any injury except a bit of singed hair and glove for Kakashi.

She turned to Sasuke and offered him a bell, which he readily accepted... just as the bell went off.

The three genin paused mid breath and swiveled their heads as one to stare at their sensei. To normal people this was enough to make one scream and hide under a rock but this time all you could see was Kakashi tenderly stow his saved book back into his pouch.

"Well?"

Kakashi looked up. "Well what?"

And that was when Sakura snapped. "What do you mean 'Well what?'! I'll show you 'Well what'! Did we pass or not!!!"

The three males in the vicinity stared at her with wide eyes. Shocked.

Afraid that he might let loose some PMS he quickly answered her. After all that whack from Anko last month did leave its impression.

"Y – yes you passed."

Sakura had seemed to calm down when she asked her next question. "Wha – what?"

"I said... You pass."

A wide grin spread across her features as she punched the air. Meanwhile you could hear a resounding "Hell Ya!!" from Naruto and a small satisfied "Hn" and a smirk from Sasuke.

"Alright you three, listen up."

They all snapped to attention at the tone of his voice.

"Okay from now on this area is our meeting point. We will meet here at seven am. We will have our first mission tomorrow."

Before he left he said one more thing, "Congratulations team." _'I can't believe that they actually passed, then again they are so much like my old team... It makes you wonder.'_ and poofed off to where ever it is that he goes.

Naruto then turned to his 'new' teammates. "Um... Uh... Do you guy's wanna get some lunch with me and Hinata-chan?"

Listening to this Sakura was immediately about to say 'no'. _'Why would I want to anyway? He's just an annoying idiot.' _

Just as she was about to open her mouth she heard another voice.

"Fine."

_'Sasuke-kun!'_ Was her only thought as they began walking towards town.

_'I want to find out more about the dobe... Something isn't right. Except that stupid smile but even that seems to have a deeper meaning to it now. He's definitely hiding something... and his new companionship with Hinata is curious as well...'_

* * *

"Hey Hina-chan! I decided to bring my team is that okay?"

Hinata smiled at the blonde boy. "Of course Naruto-kun! Um where do you want to go to eat though?"

* * *

In the end they ended up going to this little stand that sold dango among other things.

After which Naruto and Hinata excused themselves after paying and decided to train for a bit. Leaving Sasuke (somewhat evilly) with a Sakura ecstatic that she would get some alone time with the object of her obsession.

* * *

When they reached the clearing that they would be using for training, Naruto looked straight into lavender eyes and spoke softly. "Now what?"

She could see the despair and the lost look in his eyes. _'He knows his goals and where he wants to go but he doesn't know how to get there...'_

Hinata hugged him and replied with a slightly evil grin in hopes of cheering him up. "We get as strong as possible and kick anyones butt that gets in out way!"

That one sentence put a smile on his face and eased the tension. For now at least.

For now they would walk up trees until they could not walk no more.

* * *

About a month later rings us to this moment. The three young nin from team seven were currently resting in a clearing by the river.

Sasuke had continued to be weary of Naruto and his oh so sudden burst of intelligence, power and maturity. So far the aspiring shinobi had continued to make progress in making them closer as a team even if it was so very subtle that it was barely tangible that he was doing it. But it was there definitrly there.

They were more team like you you could say somewhat disjointed in the way that they fighted.

As Sasuke became more tolerant (really just more interested in the puzzle that was Naruto, he hated when he couldn't classify a person) Sakura slowly became able to stand and listen to the short one as well.

All in all what brings us to this fine afternoon by the river was thing statement from Sakura...

"I wish we were given a **real** mission."

Both boys looked at her. Both of them had said it many time before but for Sakura to say it was like she had just said, "I love Ino." or "Meh... It's just Sasuke." It was next to inconceivable for the ever uncomplaining Sakura.

After a few moments of their blank looks she continued. "I mean sure we have had missions but nothing really real in a tangible sense. We are stuck weeding, babysitting, and finding Tora the cat."

She paused for a moment to glare accusingly at the sky. "I'm starting to get sick of it."

Sasuke offered a small "Hn..." and a nod in agreement. '_I'm starting to get frustrated by the lack of growth myself.'_

The eyes of sapphire however had an idea but nodded anyway._'This subject could be quite beneficial.'_

**'You sound like a psychotic mad man, you do realize that right kit?' **

_'Shut it Fuzzy...'_

A moment later he suggested this to his teammates.

"If you guys are bored, and I am to we should..." he paused here, eyes glinting as they both looked at him. "Train like the devil's at the hind parts and get weapons, real weapons, sword weapons. Then ask, seemingly randomly, for a higher ranked mission and blow Kakashi-sensei's mask off."

Sasuke's obsidian eyes sparked at the mention of swords. 'The dobe continues to remain unpredictable, more information is required...Why am I thinking like a robot?'

Sakura however had something different on her mind, 'His mask? Excellent...' Inner Sakura cackled at the idea of dangerous weapons.

"Well how about it?"

No words were exchanged. Just large smirks and an even larger one from Naruto.

* * *

Two days later team seven and Hinata found themselves in the middle of a weapons shop.

Naruto and Hinata had both discussed this and had decided that they had get with the program with Sasuke and Sakura as things were drawing closer and the wave mission would come up in about three months. Just enough time to increase their skill up to at least mid to high chunnin or mid to high jonin in the couple's case.

As they explored the weapons shop they found everything from swords and daggers to clubs and axes. Naruto was easy to shop for as in the past life he had a pair of claws that went over his knuckles. Similar to Asuma's, except that they were three bladed claws that went into holsters on either side of his hips.

Hinata however was a little harder. Before, her weapon had been a staff with a chakra scythe blade that when swung at an opponent did not cut them. Instead it caused massive internal damage and blocked all tenketsu within five centimeters around where it had made contact.

Since this was a very specially made object (It was actually Naruto who thought of it and they had both designed it with the help of Neji and Shikamaru.) she decided to just get a regular staff and to begin work on it so it would hold the jutsu. This jutsu would help in the solidification of the chakra so that one could see it. The staff was made of ebony macassar wood, was about four foot long and would go strapped across her back.

Now Sasuke was having a bit of trouble. He knew that he wanted a sword. He just couldn't decide on which one. In his left hand he had an obsidian sheathed kodachi with a midnight blue grip. In his right he had a one and a half foot longer five foot nihonto with a royal blue sheath with silver clasps and an onyx grip.

After Naruto had finished paying for his claws (the owner made no fuss as he had see the Uchiha and Hyuuga come in with him) he walked over to Sasuke to try and give him a hand.

"What do you want dobe?"

Naruto was now across from him. "We;;..." He started cockily. "I see that you are having some trouble in deciding which sword that you want."

Sasuke looked up and glared slightly. "And did I ask for your help?"

Now with a big grin the blonde continued. "Well no but I just wanted to point out that if you chose the nihonto you would look like a undersized fool and that the kodachi is more your size."

The Uchiha now had a full on glare but put the nihonto back regardless. _'How would the dobe know? He's probably never even seen a person fight with a sword before, let alone know which one was which and their exact names. He just keeps getting weirder...'_

As you can see Sasuke is quite suspicious of our young time traveling hero. However we must now turn our attention over to Sakura.

Sakura was the hardest out of all of them to find a weapon for.

Naruto's mind worked quickly as he saw the lost look on Sakura's face as she stared at the rows and rows of weapons on the walls and in cases._ 'That's right even in the future she had never even used a bladed weapon aside from kunai and shuriken. She had always just used her fists and medical jutsu.'_

The boy then went over to a small case before going over to Sakura and handing them to her.

When she saw Naruto shove something in front of her face her first instinct was to yell at him but the thing he was holding caught her eye. On closer inspection she could see that they were half fingered gloves with a red thread leaf design on the backs. As the pink haired looked at the blonde she said sarcastically. "Gloves? That should be my weapon? Ya right Naruto."

"These gloves are specially made with flexible steel plates on the fingers, knuckles, and back in between the fabric. Also if they were applied right they could even deflect blows from swords."

Sakura was lost for words by the time he had finished and all that she could squeak out was a small "Oh".

A sincere smile then crossed his face. "Also I think you would do well with these too."

He handed her two scrolls and a book. "They're on medical jutsu by the way and Hinata-chan's said that she wanted to learn it as well."

"T – thank you."

"No problem." And as he walked over to Hinata he threw over his shoulder, "Well I was going to suggest a small tanto to you too, to hide it down your shirt... But well you don't really have anything to hold it there do you?"

This next exclimation was heard from a five block radius followed by a resounding bang.

"NARUTO! You Pervert!!!!!!"

* * *

Author's note: And that my friends is the end of chapter 7. And once again I am saying that I'm so veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy sorry that you had to wait so long!!! I was pushed back even farther while typing this up by my mom going on holiday and the release of the last harry potter book!

I hope that you can forgive me!!!!!

Beta's note: Still undetirmined.

Pretty please?

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	8. Ripples of Water

Author's Note: I am sooooooooooooooooo sorry! And thank you everyone for the reviews! Anyway in (semi) defense I have to say that to cause of the (major) delay was because of my first semester of high school, work, exams, babysitting, friends, boyfriend, writer's block, among other things. Still it is quite unforgivable! But thanks to my English class my writing should have gotten alot better! Anyway I won't bother you any more. Here's the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto if I did I would have this huge twist where... oh wait that's gonna be in the fic. Well maybe...

"Talking"

_'Thinking_'

"**/'Kyuubi Talking'/"**

_**'Kyuubi Thinking'**_

_Flashback_

* * *

Revelance of the Future

Chapter 8

Ripples of Water

Author: Ginriku

* * *

'**Naruto?'**

_'What Kyuubi.'_

**'When do you plan on telling them? Uchiha is getting quite suspicious. I'm sure you have noticed by now.'**

_'Of course I have. And I've decide of taking the telling it in stages. First I'll tell them about you. Most likely while we are on the wave mission, then the part about coming for the future later. When our trust is greater.'_

**'I see...' **

* * *

It has been about two and a half months since they claimed their weapons and they were all coming along quite nicely, even Sakura had gotten serious (at least where medical jutsu were involved).

Hinata had also got into increasing the strength of her team and driven expectations to wards the roof. The only anomaly still present was team 10. Neither of the duo really knew what to do when it came to them. They just hoped they wouldn't be to far behind if worse came to worse.

The mission to wave would come within the next week or so and a predicament came to head. What would he do about Haku and Zabuza? And should he also keep Kakashi out of it? If they did tell Kakashi he would probably have to tell Sarutobi as well and that could be a good thing or it could screw things up so badly that their future knowledge would be rendered useless. The entire predicament was enough to make anyones head hurt.

In the end, after a long discussion many headaches and cries of frustration, the time traveling duo decided to keep the others, as in Kakashi and other sensei/comrades, in the dark until at least after the wave mission.

After all of that it all came down to this moment...

* * *

"Raven here. The subject is within range do you copy? Over." 

"Fox here. Raven, Cherry, force subject into corner while I jump. Cherry, a bit more north. Over."

"Cherry here. I am in position. The subject is about ten feet due south. Over."

"Scarecrow in. Copying all messages. Proceed with plan. Over."

Scuffling sounds could be heard followed by the sound of a screeching cat.

"Raven here. Identity of the subject confirmed by red bow on left ear. It's Tora. Over."

"Well done team. Everyone meet at the rendezvous point. Over."

* * *

Naruto let an evil chuckle loose as he and his teammates watched Tora be smothered by his over exuberant owner. The evil little cat manages to run away at least three times a week and every single time his team gets nailed with the duty. If it was up to him there wouldn't be any cat to find. 

After the little bout of evilness exuded from team seven they all calmly walked up to the missions table for a new assignment.

Seeing them Iruka began to read out what there was left. "Babysitting two year old Sextuplet's for the wealthy cloak merchant, weeding for the elderly fortuneteller, or cleaning the civilian park while the caretaker is on sick leave. What do you pick?"

_'This is it. It's today that we get the wave assignment! I have to make sure we get it!' _

With this thought Naruto quickly repeated the events from long ago.

"What! That's it? Come on Old Man, we're alot stronger then those petty D-rank! Give us something harder! I'm sick of all of this baby crap!"

Sakura agreed with a hearty cry of, "Ya we're not babies!" and a firm, "Hn." and nod from Sasuke.

_'Oh dear I'm gonna hear about this later...'_ Was all that came from Kakashi.

However the opposite was true for Iruka. "Naruto you are genin. The lowest of the low. You get D-rank and that's it until you get stronger and more experienced! No buts about it! Got it!"

Iruka finished his rant to see the three genin talking among themselves about the weather. Just as he was about to start yelling again an aged hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Well you three you might be right. You have completed over a hundred D-rank in the past few months. Very well I shall give you a C-rank. A simple escorting mission."

He turned to the chunnin by the door. "Bring him in"

An old drunken man of about fifty or so entered. He sneered at the team before voicing out. "Are you sure these brats will be able to protect me? The short one looks stupid."

'Same old Tazuna.' Naruto in the most dark voice and glare he could manage replied, "That's what you think. You old geezer."

That voice sent chills down everyones spine.

Breaking out of the tension that had enveloped the room Sarutobi continued with the briefing. "Well our client's name here is Tazuna he is a bridge builder from the land of the waves. He has kindly asked for us to give him an escort back to his home. The most you should encounter is random bandits. Dismissed."

It was now that Kakashi spoke up. "Alright team you heard the details. We are leaving in two hours, meet at the east gate and bring enough supplies for a week. Go."

Nothing more needed to be said. They were gone.

* * *

Before Naruto did anything he had to fins Hinata. He couldn't leave without saying good-bye. 

All in all it only took him about ten minutes to find her, she was meditating on top of the Hokage mountain.

"Hina-chan!"

She looked up just as he sat beside her. "Yes Naruto-kun? What happened?"

"It's the wave mission. Our team just got assigned to it. We are leaving it about and hour and forty minutes. Also I have decided to tell Sakura and Sasuke about the Kyuubi."

Hinata's eyes widened as she heard what he said. "Are you sure about telling them? And are you going to be okay on that mission? Zabuza is and A-rank missing nin after all and Haku is nearly as strong."

There was worry and concern in her voice that was clearly heard by Naruto. He hated to make her worry. "Don't worry Hina-hime everything will be fine. I'm positive. We are way stronger then last time and that turned out okay didn't it? As for the telling them.. Well I need to have them trust me. Sasuke is getting quite suspicious and I need to tell him something. Divulging a secret that important that will at least sedate them for awhile. Even Sakura has noticed something."

Hinata nodded. She had noticed too. "Make sure you come back. I don't know what I would do if I lost you."

She didn't like it one bit that she was being this worried and clingy. The heiress knew that she was being childish but she all of a sudden had a strange felling that something was going to horribly wrong.

The blond knew that something was wrong by the look in her eyes. She always got that look when she felt that something bad would happen. "Don't worry I'll return in one piece. I promise."

Naruto hugged her then and placed a chaste kiss upon her lips. Leaving a lingering "_...See you later..."_ hanging in the warm jasmine scented breeze.

* * *

Aaaannnd That is chapter seven. I would have went on but I decided to break it up to make it dramatic I mean just read the last sentence!!! 

Also chapter 8 will be out this weekend! I promise!! I will even date it! This is Tuesday Feb. 4 and the next chapter will be out this weekend!

Also thank you everyone for the reviews!! I had severely doubted that i would even get 100. This is amazing.

Anyway...

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	9. Ripples Turned to Waves

Author's Note: As promised here is chapter 9! And bum bum bum... I may have have been just a rad evil on this one hehe. Also to make up for my absence (and the last chapters shortness) this one goes all the way to Wave!!! But... (yes there's a but) there is gonna be something like no other happening in the next chapter but this one builds suspense so Read On!!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**'/"Kyuubi Talking"/'**

_**'Kyuubi Thinking'**_

_Flashback_

* * *

Revelance of the Future

Chapter 9

Ripples Turned to Waves

By: Ginriku

* * *

Naruto joined his team at the gates and they were quickly on their way. 

With their backs to their beloved village they set off into the noon day sun. Thoughts racing, pulse pounding, determination clear on their faces. One thing was ringing through all three of their minds, this mission would go down in history...

* * *

Sighing softly, Hinata slowly made her way back to her home. The feeling of dread had not subsided in fact in had just grew stronger. Something was not going to go as planned and they would have to pay the consequences. 

_'Please don't let it be too bad. I have to see him again.' _

Steeling her resolve she shook away any more thoughts on that subject. She had faith in Naruto, and he never broke his promises.

* * *

After stepping through the front door and taking off her shoes she heard soft steps to her right. Looking down that hall Hinata came face to face with her father. Looking up curiously she questioned, "Yes father? Is there something wrong?" 

Still baffled at the startling change in his eldest daughter, the Hyuuga head shook his head, negative.

"Although I request that we have a short training session. I need to judge your skills. Pretty soon there needs to be a decision as to who will be heir. You or Hanabi. The council is leaning to wards your sister. Prove that you have at least some worth to the Hyuuga's, don't disappoint."

Inwardly smirking Hinata replied, "Of course father. When shall we begin?"

Baffled still, the old Hinata would have stuttered, trembled, the works. But this Hinata... Well let's just say he wans't sure if she could be trusted...

"Immediately."

* * *

Ten minutes later found the two Hyuuga's in the training area at the center of the complex. Each low in their stance. With an unheard signal both began the deadly dance. 

Using her cat-like flexibility Hinata ducked around her father before spinning around to take a shot at his unprotected back with a gentle fist.

Anticipating this attack, Hiashi spun on his heel to grab her wrist before tossing her to wards a wall.

"Why do you not activate your byakugan!"

Recovering from the throw Hinata replied, "Because I don't need it! Using a kekkei genkai as a crutch is pure foolishness, I will use it only when I have to!"

Quickly flicking several shuriken in her father's general direction, she began a series of hand seals.

"Water style: Mizu Yaiba no jutsu!"

Eyes widening he quickly jumped out of the way of crescent shaped blades of water. _'How on earth does she know that jutsu!'_

Rapidly getting more serious, and more suspicious, the Hyuuga head power up his own byakugan. Without sparing another moment Hiashi charged. He sent his palms left and right forcing Hinata to dodge with everything she had.

Starting to counter now, the heiress flared up her chakra before taking a jab at her father's ribs. Hinata then jumped high before flipping up side down and spinning swiftly releasing chakra from all pores of her body. Hurtling toward her father at break neck speeds she shouted, "Rensei Kaiten!"

Hastily dodging this latest surprise, he watched in amazement as his daughter drilled a five foot wide and three foot deep crater into the ground. Where had she learns this?

As Hinata once again began to attack, Hiashi held up his hand, "Enough. I do believe that I've seen a sufficient amount of what you can do. Now the only reason is how. Follow me Hinata. You have some explaining to do."

Following after her father, barely even winded, she thought to herself with a smirk. "That'll teach him not to underestimate me. Although I wonder what my excuse will be about the sudden strength and the jutsu. Oh well I'll think about that when I get to it."

* * *

_'There's the puddle... They should be popping up any minute now.'_

True to his thoughts two figures rose out of the water.

The events of last time repeated, Kakashi was quickly sliced through by the chain.

Sakura screamed, "Sensei!"

Trying to keep everyone calm, Naruto took charge.

"Saukra! Guard Tazuna!"

The pink haired genin took a few shaky breaths before complying, she knew that this was not a time for arguing.

The blond then turned to Sasuke.

"Up for a tag–team?"

Nodding affirmative he replied, "You take right. I'll take left."

"Oh are the little kiddies trying to make up a plan?" The guy on the left cackled wildly before continuing, "Do you even know who we are, boy?! We are demon brothers! We'll slaughter you and the old man before you can even try to fight back. Right brother?"

"Right you are brother." The other one respond, "Lets get them!"

With that last comment the battle began.

Sasuke streaked to wards his target, drawing his sword as he went. With a loud clang, metal struck metal as the sword was block by the demon brothers' poisoned claw.

Naruto also charged his target with his own claws.

Striking, parrying and slashing. This went on for about a minute for both of them before Sasuke decided to immobilize them. True to memory, the Uchiha threw a shuriken and kunai, catching the chain that linked the brothers together, and embedding it deep into the wood of the tree behind them.

Stowing their main weapons, both boys ran at the duo simultaneously jumping and nailing the missing nins in the head, effectively knocking them out.

After tying the two ninja up they both heard a familiar female voice.

"Well that was slightly anti-climatic." Sakura commented after getting over original shock. "You two took them out in no time."

"Indeed they did Sakura."

Everyone turned to the source of the voice as Sakura Squealed, "Kakashi-sensei! I thought you died!"

Chuckling at her reaction he lightly explained, "It would take far more then those two to bring me down Sakura. I simply used a simple genjutsu and the replacement jutsu. I had to see if they attack us shinobi or if they were going after Tazuna here. Speaking of which they were." The masked jounin then turned to the elderly bridge builder who audibly gulped.

"Please! I can explain! I beg you just to hear me out!"

Tazuna's hopeless tone was enough to get him to listen. He told them all about Gato, how poor his country was and how he was the sole hope for them and have he needed to complete the bridge so that his daughter and grandson might live in peace. The desperation in his voice was enough to convince him of the genuine reason for this deception.

"Really the most our village could afford was a C-rank. Everything else was to expensive. Please continue the mission, I'm their only hope. Please I beg of you."

It was here that his voice died out waiting in a tense silence as Kakashi thought through his words. It was a long moment before the jounin turned to his students. "What do you three think?"

Naruto immediately of course answered with, "Of course lets continue. We can't just leave him now. Not after all that."

"But Naruto just thin-"

Sakura was sharply cut off by Sasuke, "If the dobe's in I'm in."

Seeing that she was out numbered the pink haired kunoichi assented as well.

Observing that his students were decided, Kakashi sighed. "You do realize what this means right? This mission is now B-ranked possibly A. They will probably be sending stronger ninja next time, as those two are chunnin and you beat them so easily."

All three genin nodded.

"Very well we shall continue, but I'm send a message to Hokage-sama informing him of the events got it?"

They all nodded once more.

"Tazuna. Consider yourself a lucky man. If this was any other team they would have probably turned back."

Still slightly shaking Tazuna did nothing but nod along as well.

They stayed a few more minutes for Kakashi to make sure the captives were knocked out and securely tied up, and also sending of the message with one of his summon dogs before proceeding on their way to the Wave.

* * *

Back at the Hyuuga household. Hinata was currently kneeling on a cushion in front of her father with a table between them in his office. 

She had been waiting for twenty minutes while her father stared her down. No doubt trying to intimidate her when branch member entered to serve the tea.

She offered a stiff "Thank you." To the servant before taking a sip.

_'What is he trying to do! This is getting quite annoying and I wasn't in the best of moods to begin with. I wish he would just get on with it already_.'

As if reading her thoughts Hiashi began.

"Are you really my daughter?"

Well she hadn't been expecting that one.

"What do you mean? 'Are you really my daughter?' Of course I am! What else would I be?"

What on earth was her father thinking?

The head took a slow sip of his tea before replying calmly.

"A spy perhaps, although you would be doing a pretty bad job of it as my daughter is shy and weak, not assertive and skilled as you are."

Hinata struggled to hold in a laugh. He really thought she was a spy! "No father I really am Hinata. What would I need to prove it to you?"

Hiashi fixed her with a hard stare. "Show me your byakugan. And explain how you know those jutsu you used."

"Fine if that's what you want." The indigo haired girl made a hand seal. "Byakugan!" The veins around her eyes bulged and the iris became more defined and calculating as the kekkei genkei manifested.

Releasing the chakra her eyes returned to normal. "Satisfied?"

Hiashi's gazed did not waver, "The jutsus?"

"I've been training non-stop to get stronger, and when I graduated I decided that I didn't want to be that weak shy girl anymore. So I peeled away that mask I couldn't take it anymore I wanted to be strong, to be somebody. That is my goal."

_'I hope that sounded alright... it was all I could think of.'_

Although not quite convinced of her reason about the jutsu's he was sure that it was his daughter. She was so much like her mother.

"Very well. I believe you, and as you have -finally- shown your worth I will be training you personally for two hours each day after your training with your team. Dismissed."

Hinata bowed and exited Hiashi's office with an odd expression on her face.

_'Well this is and unexpected turn of events...'_

In future her father hadn't started to train with her personally until she was nearly sixteen after the mission to capture Sasuke and Itachi. She wondered how this would effect things in the long run, until then however she had a team to meet up with.

* * *

Team seven and Tazuna had been traveling for about six hours now, the sun was going down, Tazuna was getting tired, and the shadows were elongating enveloping the ground in darkness. 

"So shall we stop here for the night?" Kakashi posed the question that was on all of their minds.

And of course they all nodded. Ninja's needed sleep after all.

Kakashi had each assigned them assignments, Sakura was collecting herbs and berries while Sasuke caught fish and Naruto Got the firewood.

While they were all out doing this (Kakashi was setting up the tents) Naruto decided to make his move. He was going to tell them about Kyuubi.

-o-

It took Naruto approximately five minutes to get both of them to come with him, he had decided that now was the best time because they had a legit reason to be away from the campsite. Anyway he lead the them to a small clearing and began in a solemn voice.

"I know you are both suspicious of me. And to tell you the truth... you have every right to be."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he heard those words. _'So I was right... There is something going on here that's... unnatural...'_

Sakura just looked confused and slightly suspicious, she just kind of thought that she had been imagining things.

The raven was the one to speak up, "Well?"

Naruto began to sweat. _'Do you think that this is the right time Kyuu?'_

'**Yes, if you didn't now they might not trust you later. Call me out if you want.'**

_'Alright...'_

The blond began once again. "Well, I've decided to tell you what I've been hiding. I... want you to trust me. Please, you guys, aside from Hina-chan, are the closest things to family I have. And I don't want to ruin that..."

To say the least they were both shocked. They meant that much to him?

Sakura spoke this time, "W - what is it Naruto?"

He cast his gaze to the ground, he couldn't bare to meet their eyes as he revealed the secret. He truly didn't know what they would do and he was, even though he hated to admit it, he was... scared.

"Well you know the story of how the Fourth Hokage, Yondaime, defeated the Kyuubi right?"

They both nodded.

"Well that's not exactly the truth. He did defeat the Kyuubi but he didn't him. He sealed him. Sealed him into into his own son. Into me."

If they were shocked before then now they were absolutely flabbergasted.

Sakura's mouth was wide open as she pieced the story together. "S – so your saying that the K – kyuubi is... inside you?! And that the Yondaime is your father!?"

Naruto nodded solemnly. "I was the only baby born that day. Besides he wouldn't put that kind of burden on any one else's child, he knew I would keep the village safe. Even if the village didn't, and just thought I was some sort of demon spawn. He knew I would be strong. That is why I still look up to him, even though he did that to me, after all he's still my dad."

He looked up at them now, well more at Sasuke since the avenger hadn't spoken yet.

"Sasuke?"

The addressed eyes flashed, the pieces were connecting.

"The fox."

"What?"

For a moment the blond didn't know what he was talking about.

"The fox that you... summoned during the bell test. That was Kyuubi wasn't it?"

Sakura just kept looking back and forth between the two. Barely daring to believe her ears.

"Yes. It was."

**'Kit let me out.'**

_'You sure?'_

**'Ya.'**

The red chakra began to radiate from Naruto and take the form of the fox from the test. When it solidified the fox's body was a solid blood red with eyes to match. What I think startled them the most though was that it spoke.

"**I am Kyuubi."**

If she hadn't been so scared Sakura would have squealed at how cute the fox was but as it was, she was shaking to much to talk.

Sasuke was in a similar predicament although he still had his head.

"I see."

"**Is that all your going to say? 'I see.' Oh so original of you."** Kyuubi's tone was beyond sarcastic.

Naruto now interjected, "Anyway as you can see this is Kyuubi. Oh and Sakura don't be afraid. He's harmless. Well at least right now, you see I control his chakra and size so he can't really do anything without my permission."

After giving Naruto an evil glare (which Hinata thought was adorable when he did) he continued, **"He is correct. After all he is in simplest forms my jailer. We have just came to an agreement. I get some freedom in exchange for chakra and knowledge."**

"So that's why your smart all of a sudden!" She had finally found her voice.

_'I better just let them think that... at least for now.' _

"Essentially yes."

"Does Kakashi-sensei know that you talk to Kyuubi?"

"No. No he doesn't. I plan on telling him later though. But for now I just needed you guys to trust me."

Sasuke spoke for both of them then.

"I trust you. You had absolutely no reason to reveal this to us now, but you did anyway. I trust you."

Sakura agreed eagerly. "Yes I do too. I trust you."

Our time traveling hero broke out in a relieved smile. _'They mean it. They actually mean it. They trust __me...'_

"Thank you."

Even Sasuke had a small smirk on his face now when they all suddenly remembered...

"Kakashi-sensei!"

As one they all dashed back to the campsite.

"**Oh lovely..."**

Slightly agitated Kyuubi dispersed and flew back to the seal. How could they just forget him!

* * *

As they entered the campsite Kakashi couldn't help but notice the differences in the way his team interacted. Sakura seemed slightly more kind to wards Naruto, Sasuke seemed a little more relaxed. Like he had just solved an annoying puzzle. And Naruto? Well he seemed quite relieved about something, like a great weight had just been lifted off his shoulders. 

All in all Kakashi felt left out.

_'What the hell did I miss?'_

Mean while in Naruto's head an irritated presence made itself known.

**'You forgot me.'**

_'What?'_

**'I said YOU FORGOT ME!'**

_'Oh whoops. Won't happen again. Hehe?'_

* * *

The next day passed smoothly for the young team, well at least it was smooth so far. They had just got in the boat that would take them to the island. Only Naruto knew what was coming next. 

_'Zabuza...'_

**'Don't forget about Haku or are you just gonna leave him to?'**

_'Shut up already Kyuubi I said I was sorry.'_

Grumbling the massive demon retreated deep within the cage.

_'Finally some peace and quiet.'_

**'I heard that!'**

Naruto just decided to stay silent after that.

Anyway they had been walking for about ten minutes on the island now when Naruto felt something odd shift in the air to the left he could tell that Kakashi sensed it too. Remembering what it was Naruto shouted just in time.

"Duck!"

Sasuke dragged the bridge builder down with him as Kakashi grabbed Sakura.

A Giant clever – like sword whizzed over their heads with tremendous force and lodge itself into a tree behind them. As they got back to their feet a tall form lightly landed on the sword.

"Ah Konoha Ninja. What a pleasant surprise. Oh and Kakashi of Sharingan eye as well. Wonderful."

The genin all stared in disbelief. Who was this? Aside from this the three got into formation surrounding Tazuna.

Kakashi meanwhile had identified the intruder.

"Your Zabuza. One of the former Seven Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist. Other wise known as the Demon of the Bloody Mist."

"So you know my name I see Kakashi. Well do you also know that I'm going to slaughter you, those pathetic kids you call genins, and the old man too. Prepare to die"

The Demon of the Mist then snatched up his sword and jumped high creating hand sign's as he went.

"Kirigakure no jutsu!"

A thick mist seemed to appear out of no where cutting vision range dramatically. They could now only see a few feet in front of them. Total whiteout.

"S – sensei?"

It was easy to hear the waver in Sakura's voice.

Kakashi slowly lifted his forehead protector to reveal his lone Sharingan eye, "Don't worry Sakura. I won't let him harm you. Just keep your positions I'll take care of him. I don't let my friends die."

Zabuza watched this little show with sarcasm, who did Kakashi think he was? Now to make his move.

Sasuke shivered as the voice seemed to originate from right beside him.

"The master of over a thousand jutsu. Truly I am honored. But it's time for you and your precious squad to disappear."

The maniacal voice then drifted from by Sakura's ear as she started trembling.

"Ah this ones frightened all the more fun."

The voice then came from everywhere as it began taunting. "Eight choices. Oh the choices. Let me see, kidneys, heart, liver, lungs, spine, clavicle vein, jugular vein, and finally the brain. Which should I go after this time?"

The murderous intent focused on the group intensified dramatically, it was impossible to ignore. Sasuke now started shaking just as much as Sakura.

'T – this intent! It's so strong! Enough to drive a person crazy... I – I don't know if I can-'

"Sasuke. Don't worry I'll protect you even if it kills me. As I said before, 'I don't let my comrades die!'"

"Ha! We'll see about that!"

Zabuza then appeared in the middle of their formation, Naruto quickly deflected the huge sword with his claws that seemed to snap onto his hands out of no where. Sasuke cursed his forgetfulness and drew his own sword while Sakura shoved on her gloves.

_'Seems like the only one prepared was Naruto, as usual. At least we now have some idea as of why.'_

Sasuke ran at Zabuza from behind and swiped at his back only to have him turn to a puddle of water at his feet. 'A water clone!'

His eyes widened as he heard a clang behind him.

Kakashi was briefly engaged in a struggle using a kunai as a defense from the sword. When that same sword managed to slice right through him leaving that same puddle as Zabuza's clone had. The real Kakashi was now behind the target with his kunai at the missing nins neck. "I've got you Zabuza. Now what will you do?"

"This!"

The Zabuza in front of their eyes once again turned to water. This time however Kakashi was prepared. He ran full tilt onto the lake to their right and as predicted Zabuza followed.

Briefly then engaged in taijutsu before the Mists Demon summoned up three more water clones, two of which went after Naruto Sasuke and Sakura. Zabuza then caught Kakashi by surprise as he was distracted by the clones.

"Mizutoya no jutsu!"

The silver haired jounin was now encased in a watery prison.

"Sensei!" All three genin shouted as the clones began to surround them.

"Sasuke, Sakura we need a plan. Sensei is trapped and we are surrounded."

"How about 4-C?"

Naruto looked at Sakura like she grew three heads before comprehension dawned. "Sakura your a genius! You sure you can do it?"

This was the first time since he traveled from the future that he seen Sakura smile like that. "Of course I can."

With one last look at each other Naruto and Sasuke took off while Sakura made hand seals.

"Kiokure ketsuretsu no jutsu!"

The clones surrounding her and Tazuna were suddenly gripping their heads in pain and screaming bloody murder. With a quick flick she sent two shuriken attached to wires speeding past the clones. With a sharp yank the shuriken changed course and wrapped around their targets. Acting quickly Sakura ran to the clones giving one a crushing kick to the stomach and the other a fist full of her metal plated gloves. To say the least the clones were dissipated.

Meanwhile Sasuke and Naruto went to wards the last clone that was out on the lake along with the real Zabuza. Sasuke streaked around the clone to try for a swipe at his back only to be defending against the monster sword. He managed to hold is off for a brief moment before it sent him tumbling back wards into the water, with a shallow gash in his right forearm. When he surfaced he shot three kunai back at the clone. Putting away his sword Sasuke began hand seals.

"Kanton: Goukakyouu no jutsu!"

He sent a fireball at the clone only to have him dodge. But that was what he was hoping for. Using the wire attached to the windmill shuriken hidden within the fireball and adding a little chakra he managed to change the path ever so slightly and clipped the clone on the ankle. Just enough to dissipated it. Sighing in relief he turned to give Naruto backup.

While Sasuke was fighting the last clone Naruto created two shadow clones for himself. One of his clones transformed itself into a windmill shuriken which the other clone hurled at Zabuza. Naruto then took a leap high into the air and began hand seals.

"Kazeyaiba no jutsu!"

Like Hinata's water jutsu this jutsu created blades of wind hurtling to wards Zabuza. And since Zabuza was currently in the air from jumping over the shuriken from the clone he was forced to dodge. He didn't get any breaks though because where he dodged to was engulfed in a hail of fireballs. Sasuke was apparently finished.

Kakashi stared at his team with amazement. Where had they learned this? As far as he knew they had only just mastered water walking. He had no idea that they could perform these jutsu! Especially Sakura, hell he didn't even know what that jutsu was!

Realizing that the battle was at a standstill between Sasuke, Naruto and Zabuza he quickly jumped into the middle briefly noting that Sasuke had a cut on his arm and that both of them looked quite winded.

"Naruto, Sasuke go back to Sakura and the bridge builder. I will take it from here."

To tired to talk they both nodded and did as told.

Kakashi turned back to the missing nin and said as menacingly as humanly possible. "Your mine now."

* * *

As Naruto and Sasuke rejoined Sakura, Naruto sighed with relief. "Well I think that went pretty well. You?" 

Sasuke nodded once again. "That was insane, I can't believe we actually pulled it off."

Sakura chimed in now, "It was amazing! You pulled it off brilliantly!"

"Not quite so brilliantly Sakura." The prodigy held up his arm to show the gash, it was really starting to sting.

Eyes widening Sakura immediately began to work on it. "Well I'm not as good as Hinata at this but I'll be able to patch you up, so hold still."

For once Sasuke did as he was told.

While his friends were talking Naruto observed the battle between the two jounin. So far everything was going as it did last time right down to what they said.

They were nearing the end now as Kakashi finished with the last water jutsu causing a giant wave to come up over the trees a little ways to the left. He heard Zabuza land with a thud as he fell out of the tree a few feet in front of him.

As the blond neared the missing nin Kakashi landed lithely beside him.

"Is he dead Kakashi-sensei?"

"No. Not yet at least Naruto."

The silver haired jounin then pulled out a kunai from with his holster. Just as he was about to use it to end the Mist Demons life two senbon flew out of nowhere and lodged themselves deep within Zabuza's throat, coming out of the other side.

"Thank you for immobilizing him. I have been waiting for an opportunity such as this for quite some time now."

_'Haku...'_

The figure in the tree now hopped to the ground. "I'm a hunter nin from Kirigakure, you can leave the body to me now. I'm sure it holds many secrets."

Kakashi quickly checked Zabuza's body for a pulse. _'There's no heartbeat. He really is dead.'_

"I see. And there's no heartbeat so we shall leave you."

Sasuke and Sakura were now paying rapt attention nerves on end. They weren't to keen on outsiders at the moment seeing as what had just happened.

"So you dispose of the body. Am I right?" Sasuke seemed to have many questions these days.

"Yes that is correct. Now if you don't mind..."

Naruto now saw his chance. "Oh of course! Sorry for keeping you, I hope to meet you again one day and thanks again for the help."

In a friendly greeting he held out his hand and Haku wanting to play his part shook it. Haku stared at the grasped hands, _'What is he giving me?'_

Letting go and quickly hiding the note to review later Haku picked up his master. "Farewell." The nin then disappeared in a whirl of fog.

Kakashi turned to his team and Tazuna. "Well lead the way." He then promptly passed out.

Sakura was the first to speak. "Oh great! Now we have to carry him! Naruto you get shoulders, me and Sasuke will grab the legs."

Grumbling about annoying teachers both boys did as asked and dragged their sensei to Tazuna's.

About ten minutes later they arrived, tired and sweaty but feeling accomplished, they had got the Bridge Builder home safely, however difficult it had been. Tazuna did not even have a scratch.

* * *

Hinata sighed. Naruto had been gone for three days, she knew that the original mission had lasted over a week but that didn't help. Each morning she would wake up with that horrible feeling in her stomach, she was able to distract herself from it during the day but at night when she tried to sleep, it was almost unbearable. 

_'Hurry Naruto, I haven't felt like this since... that time.'_

Starring at the stars out her window she was comforted just a little by the fact that where Naruto was, he would be looking at the same stars.

* * *

At the hideout Haku was brooding. _'What did that note mean? Does it mean that he is friendly? Or is just trying to screw with me? What should I do?'_

Haku was pulled out of his musing by a voice.

"Haku get in here!"

Doing as he was told, the young nin went into see his master the words of the note still fresh in his mind...

_''I know who you are. Don't worry I won't tell anybody, at least not yet._

_I actually have a proposition for you, Zabuza as well if you want._

_I know how much you care about him and I respect that._

_It's important to have precious people._

_If you want to know more, meet me three days from now in the clearing to the west of the village, we can talk there._

_Goodbye and I hope we meet again._

_-Naruto Uzumaki''_

* * *

Author's note: Well there you have it! Chapter 9!! Let me tell you something. I was gonna have it go all of the way to the bridge fight but that would be adding and extra 3000 words (roughly) and another 4 hours and as it is... Right now where I am its 2:26 am on Sunday and I have work tomorrow plus some homework. And I really wanted to get this done. So ya got it and it's my longest yet. Over 5000 words! 

Mizu yaiba no jutsu - Water Blades

Kaze yaiba no jutsu - Wind Blades

Kiokure ketsuretsu no jutsu - Nervous Breakdown

I had a bit of fun with the jutsu's hehe.

So...

R

E

V

I

E

W!!!!!!


	10. Tides of Change

Author's Note: Well here's chapter 10!! Wow 10 chapters I can barely believe it. Anyway this chapter is quite an odd one I actually had the last scene written out before anything else I couldn't get that bit of pure amazingness out of my head. The imagery almost killed me. Lol in any case without further ado I bring you the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.. For if I did, Itachi would have... nevermind...

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

"**/'Kyuubi Talking'/"**

_**'Kyuubi Thinking'**_

_Flashback/ Dream scape_

* * *

Revelance of the Future

Chapter 10

Tides of Change

By: Ginriku

* * *

Kakashi looked down his arm and at who it wasn't in or rather who it was...

* * *

Hinata was dreaming. No dreaming wasn't the right word not even close. She was reliving the most disturbing moment of her life. 

-- _Naruto had been gone for about two weeks and for the whole two weeks the feeling of dread hadn't left her. Hinata and Naruto had been together for a few months now when the mission had came up. He had been prepared but Hinata still had an awful feeling. The feeling had grown steadily worse as the days went by and she could do nothing but remembering his and Sakura's shrinking backs as they left into what the midnight haired seventeen year old prayed wouldn't be their utter demise._

_Thankfully however they had returned but they weren't the same._

_She ran to the village gates the moment she heard that the duo had made it back but what met her was a harsh reality._

_Naruto had wounds everywhere and his clothes were torn and dirty. Blood matted his hair and stained his skin. What really shocked her though were the tears. In all of the years that she had known him she had never seen him cry like that. Naruto wasn't supposed to cry, he was like the sky, her shining sun. The light beacon in a dark and shadowed world. And now... now he was crying._

_'What happened? Why is he crying?'_

_Naruto still hadn't noticed her as she silently came to a stop a few feet off to the side from him. Tsunade was standing in front of the blond trying to console him. It did not appear to be working._

"_Tsunade-sama what happe-"_

_She broke off as Naruto's head quickly snapped up to meet her gaze, and the look she received shook her to her core._

_He was petrified. There was no other was to describe it. The blond eyes went wide, more tears leaked out of those blue orbs. He looked like a pinned animal as he shifted his weight onto his right leg before spinning on his heal and dashing towards some unknown destination. Just as she was about to follow him, Hinata felt trembling but firm hand on her shoulder._

"_Wait Hinata." The young woman turned to look at her Hokage._

"_Tsunade-sama?"_

_The elder had a distressed and sorrowful look on her face as she continued._

"_Not everything had gone as planned on the mission. And before you jump to conclusions Sakura is fine, she's in the hospital at the moment. Listen before you go off demanding answers, please be gentle with him, he's... fragile right now. He will tell you when he's ready."_

_Hinata nodded solemnly before bounding off with her byakugan already activated in hopes of finding him quickly._

_Five minutes later she landed in a clearing not far from training ground seven. Naruto was currently sitting in the fetal position. His shoulders shaking with some unbearable emotion. It hurt her just to watch._

_Approaching him slowly afraid to make him run again she slowly sat next to him. She didn't say anything just softly ran her fingers through his hair and down his arms and back hoping to sooth him. After a few moments Naruto stopped shaking and eased himself out of the fetal position before scooping his startled girlfriend into his lap and burying his face into her shoulder._

_Though surprised at his sudden actions Hinata continued to play with his hair as she felt a few wet tears run across her shoulder and hot breath on her neck. _

_A few more moments passed before he began to speak._

"_I- I killed him Hinata. I killed him."_

_Though she was slightly shocked at this statement she kept up with her ministrations while saying, "What happened?"_

_Holding her tight Naruto whispered, "He almost killed Sakura, Hinata. I couldn't let him do that. I just got so angry, he threw her around like a rag doll and played with her, I couldn't stand for that. S- so I killed him... With my own hands. I killed Sasuke."_

_Not asking for more Hinata just shushed him and started to rock back and forth. _

_Eventually Naruto regained his composure enough to stand and they both walked hand in hand back to his apartment and Hinata new one thing for sure._

_Never again did she want to see Naruto like that, never again did she want to look into his eyes and see him terrified of himself and what he had done, never again would she leave his side._

_'I promise you that.'_---

Hinata jolted awake covered in a cold sweat. No matter how hard she tried, and add the fact that the horrible feeling in her stomach was identical to the one in her dream and memories, that dream was once again haunting her. Still those eyes lingered in the the back of her mind. Those terrified glassy blue eyes.

* * *

Naruto's team had been at Tazuna's for a night now, and Inari had yet to make an appearance. Naruto supposed that was because of the hour they got in at. It had been rather late, and now it was rather early. In any case he was contemplating in the kitchen at about 7 am when Tsunami walked in. 

"Oh! Naruto! You startled me. I wasn't expecting anyone to be up yet."

Indeed she did look rather startled. None the less Naruto calmly replied, "Sorry Tsunami-san, but can I ask why you are up this early?"

With a kind smile the woman walked to the stove before answering, "Please, just Tsunami, no need to be so formal especially when you brought my father back to us, I can't thank you enough. And as for why I'm up, lets just say that everyone needs to eat, ne?"

Naruto chuckled lightly before asking, "Need any help?"

An hour later everyone was seated around the table. Well everyone except for Kakashi he was still sleeping. Chatter was light as they all ate their breakfast at least in was before Inari suddenly had a small outburst."

"Who do you people think you are! Your never gonna defeat Gato so why are you even trying. He'll squash you like a bug just like everyone else who has defied him. He'll kill you."

The young boy said this so gravely that it seemed like everyone had lost their voices well except for our beloved blond.

"I'll tell you who we are."

Naruto ominously rose to his feet before continuing.

"We are Konoha Shinobi and we fight for the good of the world. I will not quit just because some little brat like you tells me too. One day, in my village, I'm going to be Hokage and this is my first step towards it. We will defeat Gato. You just watch."

He silently disappeared from the room leaving everyone shocked, Inari stomped out soon after.

Sakura looked back and forth from the door to where they had been sitting.

"What just happened here?"

No one could answer.

* * *

Naruto was sitting on the roof waiting for Kakashi to wake up. 

_'Well I hope that will turn out all right..'_

**'Meh it wasn't't the exact same as last time, I mean it was in the morning this time, but essentially it should be fine.'**

_'You better be right fox. You better be right.'_

It was then when he heard quiet sobbing from down below. Inari was crying in his room. Deciding to make another small change he entered through the window.

He heard a sharp intake of breath as he landed on the floor and a young voice speaking.

"Why are you in my room. Get out."

"Well I was thinking that I should explain more as to why I'm not giving up."

The boy's eyes widened, "Wha?"

The blond slipped a gentle smile onto his face before launching into a story about how he was always alone when he was younger, how the village hated them. And how he wanted to gain their respect and be their Hokage. And finally about his precious people, and the most precious one to him of them all. His Hinata and how one day when they grew up they would get married, and have kids and be the family he always dreamed about.

Naruto ended with a sad smile remembering who he had to leave behind in the future.

_'I'm so sorry my little Tenshi...'_

"How were you able to do that?"

He looked at the boy with the small voice and replied, "I'm not quite sure to tell you the truth, at first I had no one, I nearly went insane but then my teacher reached out to me. He made me want to live. I guess it was him that saved me."

Inari nodded, he was so amazed, "Do you know what? Your pretty cool!"

Naruto laughed at the new enthusiasm in the younger boys face. He hadn't been able to make a change like that so quickly the last time.

"Well anyway I gotta go with my team now, see ya later twerp!"

Inari watched as his new friend leaped back out the window.

_'Wow I wanna be like him... Wait...Twerp?'_

* * *

Kakashi had woken up around an hour ago, feeling quite stiff and using a crutch I might add, in any case they were all in a small clearing a little ways away from Tazuna's. 

The jounin was the fist to speak, "Well since I obviously lack total information on your progress you will be demonstrating for me."

"What do you mean sensei?" The pink haired girl asked with a questioning look about her face.

"I want you to tell me what you can do then I'm going to get you to do a few exercises, after which I will be making pointers."

"Oh."

The others just took the information with a shrug.

"Well Naruto you start."

The blond just shrugged, there was no way on earth that Kakashi was going to get the truth from him, like he was even suspicious enough yet. Instead he gave a brief monologue.

"Well Kakashi-sensei I have the kage bunshin, been wearing weights on my wrists, ankles and I have a weighted belt, some other wind jutsu's as that my chakra type, a few fire jutsu nothing fancy, I can walk up trees and on water... umm... Oh! I can do chakra drawings and my claws!"

"Chakra drawings?"

"Ya like this."

The blond held his hands out and began to form chakra. At first it was a royal blue before it started to change the colors of the rainbow, first he made a butterfly, then the sun and a few clouds before stopping. "It's a chakra control technique. I taught Sakura and Sasuke how to do it too."

Kakashi nodded before turning to Sakura.

"How about you Sakura?"

The girl fidgeted for a moment before speaking.

"Well I have been studying some medical jutsu with Hinata, I can do quite a few genjutsu and have been studying up a lot on them. I can do tree climbing, water walking and the chakra drawing thing but not as good as Naruto. I've also been wearing weights on my wrists and ankles for about a month. I think that's it..."

She just trailed off. Slightly startled about the girl's progress Kakashi turned to Sasuke.

"And as for you Sasuke?"

The stoic boy's expression did not change as he rattled off, "Mainly fire ninjutsu, Uchiha style taijutsu, a few genjutsu, tree climbing, water walking, chakra drawing, weights on ankles, wrists, and belt, and my kodachi, I have not been able to activate my sharingan yet however."

_'So... They really have come quite far without me even realizing it, and for some reason I seriously doubt that Naruto is saying the whole and complete truth...'_

Kakashi let out a long breath before looking at them once more. "Well team lets just say that, that was not what I had expected, but pleasantly surprised. Now I want you to demonstrate a few things."

The three nodded standing up as they did so.

"Okay lets go over to that pond that we passed, I want you to first show me your water walking."

* * *

Roughly two hours later they were back at Tazuna's. The three genin were laying on they floor completely wiped from the exercises that Kakashi had put them through. 

The first to move was Sakura, and all she did was roll onto her back and ask a question.

"Ne, Kaka-sensei, didn't you say something about pointers or something like that?"

All three tilted their heads to get a better view of the said jounin.

Looking up from his book Kakashi gave a lazy look.

"Well I guess I did didn't I?"

They nodded.

"Alright I'll start with you Sakura. You need to do something about your hair. It's to long and gets in your way distracting you, so then you have to take a few seconds getting it out of your eyes which can mean the difference between life and death in a battle. You should either cut it or tie it back somehow. You also need to work on taijutsu. Besides that your pretty good for now."

The head of pink hair nodded once again.

He then addressed Sasuke.

"Well Sasuke, you need to work on your speed and maybe some different attire, the wide turtleneck thing you have could be distracting and could be an opening for attackers, you also need a proper teacher for kenjutsu. I will take care of that."

Sasuke stared at the ceiling not giving any response what so ever.

Naruto was the last to be spoken to.

"Naruto... you need to work on agility and dexterity. You almost seem like your not quite used to your own body. Precision is key. Also a bit of stealth could go a long way. Aside from that you seem pretty well rounded although I feel a few other things need to be clarified at a later date.

Naruto stared at his teacher.

_'I wonder if he knows, Kyuu.'_

**'I doubt it, well about the time travel bit anyway. He may suspect something about me, but its not that important. He will find out sometime anyway.'**

_'I guess but still... He said it seemed like I was not quite used to my body, and that is true. Well to an extent, I thought I covered it up quite well. Hinata didn't have this problem although she was only about four or five inches taller then she is now and I was over a foot.'_

**'I understand that kit, now just deal with it.'**

Grumbling the demon fox walked farther into the depths of Naruto's mind, giving his tails a final flick as he did so.

**'Well that was interesting.'**

"Naruto?"

He was broken out of his reverie by his sensei's voice.

"Wha?"

"I said that you and Sakura are to guard Tazuna as he goes to the village today."

"Oh."

After getting to his feet Naruto hauled Sakura up (Who seemed to be feeling a lot better) and went to find Tazuna.

* * *

_'Well today's the day that the note said. I have to get some herbs for Zabuza-san anyway I shall see what this Uzumaki person has to say. I just hope I'm making the right choice.'_

Haku walked tentatively towards the clearing. He knew which on it was as he had gone there previously for herbs. Only a few feet away now, he thought he saw a flash of yellow through the trees.

Haku disengaged with the forest as he stepped into the open. The blond boy wearing black and red sat on The opposite side against a tree, apparently dosing. Because Haku was so sure that the boy was asleep (there was a bird on his head) it came as a surprise when he spoke.

His voice was soft yet firm and low enough to not disturb the bird.

"Hello Haku. I'm glad you could join me."

Haku took a step closer, "How do you know my name, and all of these other hings about me."

Naruto's eyes opened now and before replying he gently lifted the bird off his head (it was also asleep).

"How is of no consequence. What I'm here to do is make an offer."

"What kind of offer?"

Naruto took a deep breath and motioned for the other boy to sit in front of him.

"I was wondering if you and maybe Zabuza would like to come back with us to Konoha. We could use Shinobi like you."

The boy's eyes widened as he sat, he hadn't expected anything like that.

"J-join your village? But Zabuza-san is an A-ranked missing nin and I've had no proper ninja training. We would never be accepted. Besides Zabuza-san would never devote himself to a village and I will never leave him."

Well Naruto hadn't expected it to be as easy as that. He supposed it would all come down to the battle of the bridge now.

_'I hope it works though...'_

"I see. Although please promise me that you will think about it and maybe mention it to Zabuza too. Please you deserve a better life then this. A real home."

Haku nodded, "Alright, I will Naruto-san, although I cannot promise you anything. However I do thank you for your offer, maybe if I do come, maybe we'll be friends..."

Naruto smiled his one-of-a-kind smile as he stood up, "I look forward to it."

Haku also stood, "Me too."

Naruto extended a hand and Haku shook it. Both offered one last smile before dashing off in opposite directions.

* * *

"Naruto! There you are Tsunami-san was worried about you." 

Naruto had just stepped into the house. Only Sakura was there as Kakashi and Sasuke were out at the bridge today.

"Sorry Sakura I had to check something out by the village."

She looked slightly suspicious but shrugged it off, he probably needed to talk to Kyuubi or something as far as she knew.

"Okay. Umm... can you help me a bit with the chakra drawing though? I still can't seem to change to colors. Oh and Inari wanted to speak with you too."

Naruto smiled.

_'At least I managed to change her attitude quicker this time around.'_

"Alrighty then. Let's go and have you decided what to do about your hair yet?"

She just gave him a dirty look before leading him off down the hall.

* * *

Hinata shivered. In the past few days the dream kept recurring with increasing forcefulness. The gut feeling kept intensifying as the days wore on, her teammates had started to notice as well as Kurenai-sensei. She tried to cover it up but seemed unable. 

"Hinata?"

The girl looked up into her teachers worried eyes.

"I'm fine sensei. I'm sorry for worrying you."

Kurenai hesitated.

"How about you go home and rest, I don't like seeing you like this."

Sighing with defeat, the midnight blue haired girl rose to her feet and nodded before plodding off for home, her teammates staring at her back.

* * *

Today was the day Naruto had both been waiting for and dreading. Today was the day of the battle of the bridge. So many scenarios had run through his mind and he felt that he was ready for anything that Gato, Zabuza and Haku could throw at him. A few days ago Kakashi had made the connection between the Hunter nin and Zabuza so like the first time line today was the day. 

Naruto had left a few of his clones behind today to take care of the two fools that would attack Tsunami and Inari, when they went to the bridge.

They had been there for a total of fifteen minutes when the mist rolled in.

"It's Zabuza!"

It was Sasuke who shouted as a few senbon rushed past his cheek missing him by mere centimeters. Naruto used a low level wind jutsu to clear away the fog while Sakura grabbed Tazuna and got into position.

"Ha ha I see the brats have gotten better. Eh, Kakashi?"

Zabuza had appeared in front of them Haku beside him. A sneer under his bandaged face.

"Well Zabuza. Soon you'll see just how good they are. Sakura protect Tazuna, Sasuke and Naruto take the younger one. Zabuza is mine."

With a few nods all around (which made them slightly look like bobble heads if you ask me) they sprang into action.

Sakura stood slightly crouched in front of Tazuna, gloves in place and kunai at the ready, a fierce glint in her eye. This time she would be strong.

Meanwhile Sasuke launched himself towards Haku, the boy had his mask on and had drawn a senbon needle as the Uchiha rushed him with his kunai. They parried for a few moments before Naruto ran at Haku from the side, claws drawn.

Ducking under the blond boy, he made a few one handed seals while throwing a handful of needles towards an incoming barrage of shuriken courtesy of Sasuke.

Dodging another of Naruto's attacks he initiated his jutsu.

"Mizu senbon no jutsu!"

A wave of water needles formed behind him and started speeding towards the two genin, acting quickly Sasuke performed a fire jutsu and turned the water to steam.

"Hah your pretty good leaf ninja. See if you tow can handle this!"

Making a few More on handed seals Haku created his ultimate jutsu.

"Hitoshirezu Mizuton: Aisu Hitoya no jutsu!"

As it had been before giant mirrors of ice had sprung to life with Naruto and Sasuke in the middle.

Quietly Naruto whispered, "Uh–oh."

* * *

Back at the house the Naruto clones were upstairs quietly talking amongst themselves when they heard the sound of breaking glass and a cry of, "Mommy!" 

One of the clones was sent to go down the stairs to head them off while the others went through the window to ambush them as they came out of the house.

The first clone had just made it to the bottom when one of the attackers had shoved Inari into the wall. Whipping out a kunai he flung it at the one who had done it.

"Just what do you think your doing!"

The one with Tsunami over his shoulder chuckled.

"Oh look the little brat doesn't like us, what ever shall we do!" They both laughed.

"Well bye bye little kiddies we shall be on our way now!" He laughed once more before turning on his heel and going out the door followed by the one with Tsunami.

Knowing that the other two clones would deal with them, the first one turned to Inari who was currently leaning against the wall cradling his head, tears streaming down his face.

Kneeling quietly next to the boy, the clone put a hand on his shoulder, "Come on Inari it's alright. The other clones are taking care of the bad guys. In fact they're almost done."

And true enough they heard a few wails and retreating feet as the door swung open once again with the two clones carrying Tsunami.

"The one on the right mumbled something about being short before informing him that they would lay the unconscious woman in her room for now.

With Inari seeing that his mother was alright he perked up quite a bit.

"She's okay?"

Naruto looked down into those wide innocent eyes while replying, "Yes she's fine. Now why don't you stay here and guard the fort like a big man while I go to the bridge okay? Can you do that for me?"

Inari nodded eyes still slightly glazed, as he watched the clone leave. A moment or to after had changed his standing. No way was he staying here, he was going to help! His mother was fine and he severely doubted that anymore attackers would come so he decided to be what Naruto had proven to him to exist. He wanted to be a hero too!

Getting to his feet the small boy ran from his house.

* * *

Back on the bridge Naruto received the information from his clones and was distracted for a mere second by it. It also wasn't the best moment to get side tracked. 

Haku had already entered his mirrors and was attacking from all sides. Despite all of the training on Sasuke's part and being from the future from his hadn't spared them from getting hit at all angles by Haku's senbon.

They currently had needles sticking out of random places and scratches all over but that wasn't the worst. The worst was that Sasuke couldn't keep up. He really did need to work on his speed and perception. He needed to activate his sharingan.

Looking back on his memories, Naruto remembered that it was during this battle that Sasuke had awakened this power. He just didn't know how. Which brings us to this moment.

As was mentioned before Naruto had, for one single moment, had been distracted. And it was in that single moment that Haku struck.

The mist nin came flying out of the mirror behind and to the left of him, sending a volley of senbon straight for his back. By now it was far to late for him to react when a hail of shuriken intercepted them. Looking back over his shoulder the blond saw Sasuke's arm still raised from throwing the stars with eyes both shocked and determined.

Taking another look Naruto noticed with both pride and wariness that his best friend had awakened his lineage.

* * *

Things weren't good. Sasuke had numerous cuts and needles sticking out of various places. This really went bad when Naruto got a glazed look in his eye. 

_'What is the dobe thinking! Zoning out at a time like this, I outta-'_

It was then that he noticed Haku. The nin sensing Naruto'd distraction had acted. Senbon hurtling at breakneck speed towards him. With out thinking or anything he could discern in that one moment, everything seemed to slow down. Everything that was, except him.

His hand reached lightning fast into his weapons pouch and extracted the weapons already sending them flying before the raven haired genin had even realized he had been moving.

It was metal striking metal that had awakened him from his trance. When he finally began to take in his surroundings he noticed the awe on his teammate's face.

"What just happened?"

Naruto's face spread into a wide grin as he remarked, "Your sharingan happened Uchiha."

After feeling his face split into a smile for the first time in a long time, his world went black.

* * *

Naruto's grin turned to stone as the Uchiha dropped. Haku had hit a sensitive nerve on Sasuke's neck as they had been distracted (as if they shouldn't already have learnt their lesson), effectively knocking him out cold. 

Eyes hardening into slits Naruto got serious. Knowing that there was little time left but also that Sasuke would be fine (if a little stiff) he got to work.

"Have you thought about my offer Haku?"

The nin calmly replied while also throwing a couple more senbon at the last genin standing.

"I have Naruto-san however I've decided that I will stay with Zabuza-san I owe him my life."

Naruto charged up a fist and slammed it into the mirror closest to him, smashing it with brute force.

"You know he's only using you, right, Haku?"

Shocked at what the boy had done to his mirror, he reciprocated none the less, "Yes but I will follow him to the ends of the earth. Now I believe we have a battle to finish."

Eyes turning a slight shade of violet at the edges Naruto countered, "Very well."

Creating as many shadow clones as there were mirrors, all of the Naruto's charged up their fists and laced them with chakra. He wasn't nearly as good as Sakura or Tsunade but he could still pack a punch. And with all of them he unleashed a mighty blow. Shattering every and all mirrors, while throwing Haku a good twenty feet from his place.

The fake hunter-nin landed with a dull thud.

Haku looked up into Naruto's eyes as the blond appeared in his line of vision.

"I'm taking you back to Konoha whether you like it or not."

It was then that they heard the sound like a thousand birds chirping...

* * *

Zabuza was bound tightly by his dogs now. The battle had not been too long but they were both bloody and sweaty nevertheless. But now Kakashi had the Demon of the Mist pinned. There was no escape for him. 

The finishing blow was mere seconds away as he began the hands seals.

One... Two... Three... Four... Only four hand seals for the devastating assassination jutsu.

The chirping of the electricity began to sound from his hands, reminding him of a timw when he first mastered the dreaded technique, as he shouted out the name of this jutsu.

"Chidori!!!!!"

* * *

Hinata ran from the middle of the training session with her father. 

She ran straight to the bathroom and puked up all she was worth.

* * *

There was a moment of complete blindness and deafness as the world seemed to stop. Kakashi had ran at Zabuza, Chidori in hand, when someone had came in between. 

Kakashi looked at the person his arm was stuck through. It was not Zabuza.

_'No! No! No! It can't be...'_

Oh but it was. His arm holding the Chidori was not through Zabuza, nor Haku.

All Kakashi saw as his vision swam was a pair of terrified glassy blue eyes...

* * *

Author's Note: -peeps out head- Anyone with pitch forks? Lol If that's not a cliffie I don't know what is. 

Anyway It's out Wednesday as promised. Albeit late Wednesday. (8:54 PM) Anyway what did you think? I think I did a rather good job if I do say so myself. Also another 5000 plus word chapter. Oh the plot bunnies!!! Although now they have scampered off somewhere... I have about enough for a third of the next chapter maybe but that's it. I'll think of something don't worry.

Anyway expect about 2 – 3 weeks till the next chapter! Tootles!

Mizu senbon no jutsu – Water Needle Technique

Hitoshirezu Mizuton: Aisu Hitoya no jutsu – Hidden Water Style: Ice Prison Technique

R

E

V

I

E

W!!!!


	11. Ash Filled Sea

Author's note: Well Here's chapter 11. Slightly delayed by my family's on the spot trip to Yellowknife (Its in The North West Territories, so far north its ridiculous) anyway I had to go 'cause my grandpa is in the hospital. Only stayed for a few days but still no Internet, and then it was my birthday so ya... Anyway here ya go!

To reader88: Hehe I was wondering when someone would catch on. Yes I know Revelance isn't a real word and I knew before I actually posted the story but to be honest I kept it like that because A. I think it sounds cool and B. I like the way the word flows when its written (I'm a bit odd like that). Awesome find though!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto... I'm, by far, way too soft.

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

"**/'Kyuubi Talking'/"**

_**'Kyuubi Thinking'**_

* * *

Revelance of the Future

Chapter 11

Ash Filled Sea

By: Ginriku

* * *

He had acted. 

Not out of self-preservation, not out of anger or fear.

He had acted because Haku acted, and Haku acted because Kakashi acted. And Kakashi had acted because Zabuza acted. It was all a huge chain and that was how he ended up where where he is now.

The pain in his chest wasn't that bad. No he had felt such a pain before except maybe, this time it was little closer to the left. A little closer to his heart. He couldn't have that.

Blood was coming out of his mouth now too, not just from the squelching wound from his chest.

His mind was completely blank, well his conscious mind was blank. His subconscious mind was working fervently in protest. Demanding why he had acted, why he was in this mess, how was he going to get out of it, and most of all, how he supposed to save everyone if he couldn't save himself.

One thought drifted through his conscious mind before the black tendrils of nothing engulfed him in a nightmarish world of the would-be future.

_'I can't die yet...'_

* * *

Kakashi's mouth went dry. 

His mind went blank.

He had impaled his own student right through his chest. His own student. One of his first students. His sensei's son. The last link he had to his old genin days.

And he had practically stabbed it through the heart.

Acting quickly Kakashi removed his arm from the blond. The squelching sound was almost enough to make him sick. He laid Naruto out on the ground, wincing at the gaping wound on the young nin's torso.

Behind him he heard running footsteps signifying that Sakura had run over with Tazuna. She probably had already checked on Sasuke.

And in front of him was the hunter nin impersonator. The boy slowly removed his mask to reveal a face streaked with tears of shock.

Haku had jumped up when he seen Kakashi run run at Zabuza with the chidori only to see that Naruto had been one step ahead and jumped in front of them both, taking the hit.

Kakashi found his voice as the footsteps stopped behind him.

"W-why are you crying..?"

The boy looked into the silver haired jounins eyes. "I meet with him in a clearing in the forest two days ago. H-he wanted to help me, he offered to bring me to Konoha, to have a real home. He is one of the only people who have been nice to me besides Zabuza-san. H-he jumped in front o-of m-me..."

Haku wandered off muttering nonsense as Zabuza fell to the ground. The boy then went over to him in a shocked stupor.

"K-kakashi-sensei?"

He turned around to find his female student in tears, eyes wide as she took in the sight of her near dead teammate.

"Sakura?"

The girl sank to the ground before speaking. "Is he dead?"

Kakashi couldn't bear to look at her any longer, "Not yet Sakura. But at this rate he will be.

* * *

Hinata fell back from the toilet. Covered in a cold sweat, and shivering uncontrollably. 

_'What happened?'_

Behind her she heard her father knocking on the bathroom door. He had followed her.

"Hinata? What happened? Come out at once!"

However then clan head was not expecting what he got when she did come out.

Hinata was completely white, even her lips were extremely pale. Her skin was cold and clammy. Under her eyes and eyelids were a pale purple and she looked like she had been up for days.

"Hinata?"

The girl took one look at her father before gripping her stomach in pain. Her breath hitched as another wave of pain gripped her forcing her to grip the wall with her free hand for support. As it subsided she weakly answered him.

"I don't feel well at all father. I'm sorry but I don't think I can continue our training session today."

Hiashi nodded dumbly before ordering a branch member to help his daughter to her room.

* * *

_Flashback_

"_Sasuke! STOP IT!"_

_The Uchiha didn't listen though. He just gave another of his insane grins as he flicked Sakura off of the end of his Kusanagi. _

_The pink haired kunoichi hit the ground with a dull thud. She didn't get up._

_Naruto was currently kneeling on the ground, blood streaming from his back and front where the cuts made an abstract X. The red fluid also matted his hair. Plastering the once sunny locks to his skull. His breathing was in shallow wheezing gasps as he spoke._

"_Why Sasuke? Why?"_

_This time he answered._

"_Because I can. And you two are in the way."_

_The blond the forced himself to his feet, Kyuubi chakra rolling off of him in waves. Hair covering his now scarlet eyes._

_The chakra was healing him but because the blade was poisoned they would leave scars._

"_Because you can?"_

_The voice like acid whispered._

_Louder now._

"_Because you CAN!"_

_Naruto sharply lifted his head, slitted eyes boring themselves into his raven haired opponent._

_He spat out one last sentence before exploding the ground he stood on._

"_Your exactly like your brother aren't you?"_

_That struck Sasuke as he spun to head off the blonds attack._

"_I am NOTHING like my brother! I killed him I should know!"_

_Naruto snorted, "Just look at you. You despicable bag of flesh and bones. You betrayed Konoha, your friends and everyone who has ever given a shit about you. You don't care about anyone, and you were going to murder Sakura just because you felt like it! You don't even deserve to live, let alone anything else. And now I will give you what you deserve."_

_Naruto let leash a flurry of strikes before backing off to create a single hand seal._

"_Kage bunshin!"_

_Five Naruto's came into existence. Each with the same feral look as the original. _

_Silently another came into existence off into the bushes and grabbed Sakura. She was bleeding heavily and was feverish. She needed medical attention, fast. The clone quickly disappeared with her using Hiriashin, only to poof out of existence leaving the girl a bloody mess in the Konoha hospital lobby._

_The now six Naruto's each dug out their special three pronged kunai and scattered them across the battlefield._

_Sasuke was going to wait no longer, if he did he would die instantly. Charging his body with electricity he rushed the clones. Destroying two before they disappeared. It seemed they were on near level footing in terms of speed._

_Whirling once more, he blocked Naruto's metal claws with his sword. Parrying he jabbed his sword at the other Naruto behind him only to have to dodge the third with a Rasengen. Mangekyo Sharingan spinning at top speed he locked eyes with the real Naruto drawing him into the world of the Tsukuyomi._

_The outside world faded away and the clones disappeared only to be replaced with a realm of black and red._

_Naruto was chained to an unseen wall as the last surviving Uchiha materialized in front of him._

_Pulling out his sword with a soft 'shtick' he muttered darkly, "This is what you get for saying that I'm just like Itachi."_

_He then jammed the Kusanagi into various parts of the blonds body, stomach, chest, arms, legs, everything within reach._

_Awhile later Sasuke screeched out, "Why don't you scream!"_

_Naruto's bloody face lifted for the first time since entering the genjutsu. "Because I refuse to lower myself to satisfy worse the trash like you."_

_Nearly rabid Sasuke raised his sword ready to behead his once friend. Just as the blade was about to make contact, blood red chakra burst forth from the boy engulfing the Uchiha._

_Sasuke landed hard on the ground after being thrown from his own jutsu._

_Seven feet in front of him Naruto was once again on his knees panting._

"_You really are a bastard Sasuke."_

_In a flash of yellow light Sasuke's eyes rolled back into his head, Rasen Shuriken destroying every nerve in his body._

_There were no more Uchiha's left on earth._

_End Flashback_

Kyuubi stared down at his host, he really did feel sorry for the boy, he had lived through so much and really didn't deserve to go out like that.

It was time that he had his say in matters.

"**Kit, your gonna live, I'll make sure of that. But first, I'm going to have _my_ say."**

* * *

Sasuke had just started to stumble over to where everyone was huddled when a huge amount of killing intent filled the area. Shocked out of his stupor, he half limped half dragged himself over to his teammates. 

Just as he reached them red chakra started pouring out of his fallen friend, who he noticed had a large gaping hole in his chest.

_'What happened while I was out?'_

Was the his only thought before he heard Kakashi shout to get back and hauled Sasuke away from the covered blond.

Sakura looked extremely frightened with tears running down her face, and eyes as wide as they would go. Haku meanwhile was helping Zabuza back off, Sasuke noticed that the boy looked quite feminine without the mask. Kakashi. Sasuke could barely even begin to describe. He looked like his best friend, parents, and dog all died at once. There was nothing else to describe it as.

His eyes turned back to Naruto now. He was completely engulfed in the chakra which was starting to take the shape of a fox. The light from the chakra threw the surrounding area into contrast as it created a pillar of scarlet light up into the sky for about twenty seconds before dissipating in a brighter flash of light, leaving behind a healed but unconscious Naruto and a five foot red fox.

"**You. Boy."**

With a jolt Sasuke realized that it was the Kyuubi and that it was talking to Kakashi. Ironically he found it funny that the demon was calling his sensei a boy.

Shuddering Kakashi answered, "Y-yes? And who are you?" Even though the jounin knew he still had to make sure.

"**Don't play games, human. You already know who I am. What I want to know is, was it you who did that to my kit?"**

The demon's eyes were hard as diamonds as they pierced into Kakashi. Gulping the said male didn't even question Kyuubi's word choice as he replied, "Y-yes. I did it. I didn't mean to though I swear!"

Kyuubi snorted, Kakashi was an emotional wreck, and if he did say so this was quite amusing.

"**Very well then human. Consider this a warning. If you ever do anything like that again... You'll have me to deal with."**

"That's enough Kyuubi."

They all turned to see Naruto slowly getting to his feet. The hole was still in his shirt but his flesh looked unblemished.

"Naruto!"

It was Sakura who shouted.

With a cocky smile and a little wince Naruto answered, "What you miss me Sakura? I'm shocked!"

Her face turned dark as she yelled, "Of course I was you idiot! You had Sensei's arm go right through you!"

"Well I'm fine now so stop crying alright?"

She nodded and wiped away her tears.

Naruto walked up to the large fox and had a few words with him. A few seconds later Kyuubi shrunk to his foot tall size and lept to the blond's shoulder.

"Naruto?"

He then turned to his sensei, slightly surprised at what he saw, in all his years of knowing him, he had never looked as bad as he did at this moment.

"Sensei? What's wrong?"

"I-I'm sorry Naruto. For everything."

Just as he was about to reply a sneering voice just had to cute in.

"Oh what a touching moment. I think that I just have to interrupt or I think I may barf."

Everyone currently on the bridge turned towards the end of the bridge. A large number of thieves and bandits were surrounding a minuscule man in a suit.

_'Gato'_

"Kyuubi go away now."

"**No."**

"Yes."

"**No. Not anymore. Your to venurable like this."**

Silence.

Sasuke was the one to speak, "And just who are you?"

The short ugly man with round glasses chuckled darkly before replying. "I am Gato. And you need to disappear."

Zabuza suddenly seen something he should have a long time ago.

"You never did plan on paying us did you? You little fucker."

"Ha of course I wasn't. Ninja's are just to damn expensive and now you're gonna be exterminated."

If he could've moved, Gato would have been dead on his feet by now.

It seemed someone else had this idea as well.

The group silently looked on as an ice mirror appeared behind the smug man and a few needles flew out and jutted through his cold black little heart.

Not one of the thugs noticed that their employer dropped silently to the water until Haku (who was on their side again) said his voice ice hard, "That bastard deserved worse then what he got."

They all looked at the place where Gato used to be, only to see a few left over ripples in the water below. They all looked at the ninja's in rage. There were a few shouts of "Now who's gonna pay us!" and a few "What the hell? Where'd he go?" from the stupider ones.

"Kakashi-sensei I'll take care of this."

Everyone just looked at Naruto, he had been practically dead five minutes ago for crying out loud! Of course he wouldn't listen to anything that they said though. To say the least they were still in shock.

Naruto was still in a fair amount of pain but his chakra was fine so he supposed he may as well as get this over with.

"Kage Bunshin."

Naruto put his hands into the required sign and created ten copies of himself.

They all got into a stance and were readying themselves for the charge when an arrow landed in the no man's land between them.

Inari had arrived. And behind him were a mob of angry villagers with pitch forks, knives, and other such sharp items.

"Well ya idiots, are you going to be stupid enough to attack now?"

Sakura was the smart mouth behind that comment. Apparently she had shook off her shock at last.

"You have four capable semi-unscathed ninja, ten solid clones of one of these ninja, and a mob of angry armed villagers in front of you. Ready to fight now?"

The thugs were getting nervous they hadn't planned one this and now with Gato dead they wouldn't even get paid. The more nervous ones yelled something akin to "Abandon ship!" which catalyzed a panicked reaction of having all of them run backwards into boats or into the water. In any case the bridge was clear in a matter of three minutes. The last one tripping over his own feet twice before tumbling head first into the water below.

Back on the bridge Sakura rubbed her her hands together eyes closed an interesting smile on her face, "Well I guess I put that in perspective for them."

In spite of the situation no one could help but sweatdrop.

* * *

It had been around a week since the battle of the bridge when the bridge was finally complete. Zabuza and Haku had been staying at Tazuna's during this last week, although Zabuza had disappeared during the night around three days ago leaving Haku. 

The said boy had been reclusive for the first day but had lightened up considerably, and you could now see his gentle smile everywhere.

Kakashi had also recovered, although quite forcibly by Naruto, who had also explained to him about Kyuubi. That conversation had not gone as well as he had hoped but it got the job done (Sakura and Sasuke would have reported multiple shouts and bangs from the room they were in).

It seemed that the only one who was gloomy was Inari. Sure he was ecstatic that he had helped drive the thugs away and that they were all in one piece by the end of it, but he still felt horrible. Naruto was leaving. And he really wanted to be like him, to be strong like him, and always smile, and, and, and, he wanted to be just like him! If he was stuck here he would never accomplish that, and it wasn't like his mom would let him go with them...

Well actually he had never asked and it never hurt to try now did it?

Inari slowly crept into the kitchen where his mam was washing the dishes humming softly.

"Mom?"

Tsunami jumped slightly, she hadn't heard him enter. "Yes honey?"

"Um.." He swallowed. "D-do you think..?"

"Think what Inari-chan? Come on you can tell me anything."

The boy looked up into his mother's kind sweet face and gentle smile before looking back at the floor.

"Do you think I can go to Konoha with Naruto and be a ninja?"

Tsunami nearly dropped the plate she was drying. "Be a ninja? Inari that's dangerous!"

The little boy fiddled with his foot and clasped his hands behind him and ploughed forward.

"I know mom, but I wanna be strong like Naruto! I want to be able to protect you and Grandpa! Please I can't learn that here... And I really wanna!"

The woman sighed, her little boy really did want to be a ninja. She was positive that his little heart was set on it, there would be next to no hope on swaying him at this point.

And with knowing this she calmly replied, "I'll talk with Kakashi-san about it."

Although she couldn't help but smile at the joy on her little boy's face as he cheered and ran out the door. Probably to find the ninja's and drag them back here to speak with her.

* * *

Haku thought back to the last conversation between him and Zabuza. It was tense to say the least. 

_Flashback_

_It was about one in the morning when Haku was woken up by the sound of rustling clothes and a soft clank of metal._

_Sitting up in bed he stifled a yawn and asked the darkness, "Zabuza-san? What are you doing?"_

_The missing-nin turned to the boy, he had hoped to make a clean get away and only leave a note, but no. The boy just had to be an abnormally light sleeper didn't he?_

"_I'm leaving Haku. Konoha is no place for me. I would never be accepted there I'm sure of it. Although you have done nothing against them so I'm leaving you here. Got it?"_

"_But-"_

"_No buts."_

_The demon of the mist turned to his companion. Pulling his sword onto his back._

"_You deserve a better life. I see this now. So you are to go with the Copy Cat and his team of surprisingly skilled brats to Konoha. That is an order."_

_Haku looked at his hands resting in his lap, "Will I ever see you again?"_

_Zabuza sighed, "Probably not, at least not for a long time. If I'm still alive by then anyway."_

_Making sure he had everything he went to the window and opened it._

"_Well I guess this is good-bye. Farewell Haku, grow up well kid."_

_All he heard was a faint shuffling before a light weight hit him from behind and thin arms grabbed him in what he supposed to be a hug. He heard a slight sniffle before the boy spoke softly._

"_Good-bye Zabuza, and thank you. For everything."_

_There was one more moment before the demon of the mist simply disappeared._

_End Flashback_

Needless to say Haku had gotten no more sleep that night.

_'I hope I do see him again though. And then I will show him just how far I will have come!'_

Haku's eyes sparked with a new determination that he hadn't felt since he had first met the one called Zabuza Momochi.

* * *

Naruto sat under a tree in a nearby clearing. In front of him, his teammates were doing some light training exercises, nothing too major. 

Although his wound (for the most part) had healed, every now and then he would get a sharp pain shooting through his chest, and it would hurt him to breathe deeply. He did not know what was causing it but what he did know was that it was not right. This had never happened to him before, even Kyuubi was stumped.

_'I'll have to have Hina-chan check it out when I get home...'_

On another note Kyuubi had point blank refused to return to behind the seal, taking on an almost mother hen role. To say the least it was deeply annoying. Speaking of which the little bastard was currently dosing on his head.

"Hey Kyuubi. Wake up!"

The little fox blearily opened on eye.

"**What now kit?"**

The blond crossed his eyes and looked up hoping to see the demon.

"When are you going back behind the seal?"

Grumbling some obscenity or another Kyuubi uttered a firm remark, **"I already told you and you will just have to deal with it. I. Am. Staying. Out. Here."**

He turned on Naruto's head planning on returning to slumber land.

"No your not. Do you have any idea what the villagers would do when we get back home?"

Not even looking up now.

"**They delt with it before. They can deal with it again."**

Our time traveler's voice turned into a heated whisper, "I had gained a lot more respect and trust then I do right now Kyuubi. I doubt they would be that willing. Even as Hokage many people were still quite uneasy with the fact that you were allowed to roam free. I don't want to ruin things before they can happen."

"**I don't care. In this state... you just can't die alright. Not now..."**

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise before narrowing in mischievous thought. "Has the great Kyuubi gone soft on me now?"

All he got in reply was a snort and a snore. Not exactly prime answers if you ask me.

He continued to watch his teammates for about another hour. Sakura really had come far although she was visibly far more tired then Sasuke. She would have to do more resistance training.

The tow of them finished and with a sigh from the female and a grunt from Sasuke they flopped down on either side of him.

"So why is Kyuubi still out?"

Once again our pink haired friend spoke up first.

The blond gave a slightly sarcastic look while replying, "He refuses to return to the seal, no matter how many times I tell him he just point blank refuses. He says that he's never going back in."

Sasuke now joined into the conversation, "Why?"

Naruto looked down at his feet, "I'm not sure. I think he's worried about me or something..."

Sakura let out a little laugh, "He's worried about you? Kyuubi? Then great demon fox? Are we talking about the same thing here?"

Naruto chuckled as well, even Sasuke let a smirk marr his face.

"That's what I was thinking! I think he's gone soft or something."

It was then that they heard a little growl from the small foxes perch from Naruto's head.

Just as they were about to comment a small blur of blue burst out of a bush to their right. When the said blur came to a halt there was Inari bent over, hands on his knees, panting for breath.

"Inari?"

When the boy finally caught his breath he uttered only one sentence.

"Can I go back to Konoha with you?"

* * *

After talking with Inari in the clearing the group decided to find Kakashi and talk with Tsunami and Tazuna. 

As it was they were now all seated around the table and talking about the issue over supper.

"Can I please? Please Mr. Kakashi-san can I?"

It seemed Inari was putting up a good fight, he really did want to be a ninja. And that my friends put Kakashi and Naruto in a hard place. For Kakashi it was because they were already taking back Haku and that Inari was so young and he knew how hard it could be. On both him and his family if he were to come with them. And as for Naruto...

_'I can't believe he really wants to come. He didn't last time or at least not that I'm aware of. Man I wonder how many other changes I've caused...'_

Needless to say it was a tough situation. Though in the end it was solved with a pretty good solution thanks to our Copy ninja.

"Inari."

The boy looked at Kakashi dead in the face waiting desperately for the answer.

And Kakashi, seeing that he had the boy's and everyone else's attention continued on.

"Inari, how about we wait until next year? You can think this through a bit more, and besides your still a bit young to be entering the academy just yet. Although you can train a bit here in the year and keep us updated with letters. Also if by the end of the year if you still want to be a ninja we'll send someone to come and get you alright? After all being a ninja is a dangerous occupation. You could die at any time."

Inari nodded seriously, it wasn't he answer he was hoping for but it was better then a flat out 'No' right?

"Okay Kakashi-san I'll do that, and you just wait and see! I'll get super strong and be able to protect all of my precious people! Believe it!"

Everyone smiled at his enthusiasm although Tsunami worriedly.

_'Heh I remember when I use to go around yelling that all the time. What a fool I was back then.' _

He let out a small laugh before joining in on the conversation between Kakashi and Sasuke about shuriken types.

* * *

Three days later found the group and Haku at the bridge, with Inari, Tazuna, Tsunami, and the rest of the village to see them off. 

"Bye Naruto! I hope to see you again!"

"Bye Tsunami-san, thanks for everything!"

Many more heartfelt good-byes were exchanged. Leaving them close to tears on both sides. One last, "I'll see you in a year! You better not forget to come and get me!" from Inari and they were off.

Haku was smiling gently, Sakura and Naruto were smiling brightly, Sasuke was smirking, Kyuubi was trotting at his jailer's heels, and Kakashi... was well being Kakashi.

_'All in all'_ Naruto thought, _'I think Things turned out pretty good. Except for the pain in my chest though.'_ Another shot of pain bolted through his torso, and he did his best to cover it up although Kyuubi may have picked up on it. _'I'll tell Hinata-chan everything as soon as I get back, and then I'll tell here about the pain. It's really worrying me now.'_

Back on the island someone spoke up.

"What is the bridge going to be called?"

Tazuna thought for only a moment before replying.

"The Great Naruto Bridge!"

The villagers erupted with a cheer.

* * *

Author's Note: Once again I'm sorry for the delay! 

Also my laptop decided that it's going to pretend that the Internet doesn't exist so I got mad at it and gave it a time out (I just let the battery run out and not turn it on for a few days) anyway that didn't work so I had to do this on my other computer .

What do you guys think about the fight scenes? And about how the battle of the bridge ended?

I think I might re-write the ending to that battle, I'll see how I feel about it later. Although I do like the first flashback! (but it's not nearly as epic as I would have liked it)

In any case...

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	12. Time to Ashes

**Author's Note: **Well this was a bit late due to finals and my computer going in and out of denial. It was on its man period for about two months and the internet would not work. I got mad with it and didn't use it for like a week or something. Then I had to work out how I was gonna do it. I also forgot a part of the plot of what I was going to do in this arc lul. I know stupid excuses but that's it. So here ya go. Chapter 12!

**Disclaimer:**Is this really necessary? Whatever. I don't own Naruto or anything else.

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**'/"Kyuubi Talking"/'**

_**'Kyuubi Thinking'**_

_Flashback_

* * *

Revelance of the Future

Chapter 12

Time to Ashes

By: Ginriku

* * *

Hinata stared shakily at her hands.

That couldn't be! It just couldn't be! He wasn't dead yet, she could feel that much, but...

To say the least she was scared.

The Hyuuga heiress stood up from her bed and turned to the window. She needed sometime to think and here wasn't helping.

* * *

The road back home was pretty smooth. Naruto was chatting with Haku, Kyuubi on his shoulder. Sakura was just walking quietly and taking in the scenery, sneaking glances towards Sasuke every so often (she did still have a crush on him after all). Speaking of the raven haired boy, he had his hands in his pockets just staring straight ahead, he must have been thinking deeply on something as his eyes were slightly glazed. Kakashi was, of course, reading his little orange book.

_'I wonder how strong Naruto really is. To be able to stand up and want to fight, let alone live, from a blow like that! It's unimaginable. Anyone else would be six feet under... I wonder how he got this strong in the first place... He has slipped up plenty since being on this team but during the academy nothing suggested it in the slightest... I bet he's hiding more than just Kyuubi.'_

Unconsciously Sasuke's fist tightened inside his pocket.

_'I have to work twice as hard to get strong. If I can't beat Naruto, I have no chance at beating Itachi.'_

* * *

Naruto broke off mid-sentance with Haku. Something in the wind had changed, slightly dryer, and something slightly more menacing...

"Did you feel that Kyuubi?"

The little fox sleepily opened his eyes. **"Feel what kit?"**

"The change in the air."

Kyuubi lithely jumped to the ground and stretched in a cat like fashion. **"You're the one with the wind affinity. Don't ask me."**

"Yes bu-" He was cut off as a bolt of pain ripped through his chest. Gasping he grabbed at the area hoping to make it stop. By the time that it did he was gasping deeply and everyone was staring at him.

"Naruto are you okay?" His pink haired teammate asked worriedly.

He managed a weak grin before turning away, "Ya I'm fine don't worry about it."

They all shared a worried look before following though no one said a word.

Sometime later about an hour or two outside of Konoha everybody had forgotten about the little episode and was joking around, excited at the fact that they were almost home, even Kakashi and Sasuke had small grins on their faces.

Sakura stopped and stared at the little being in front of her. With the huge adorable eyes and cute little bottle-brush tail. It was almost enough to bring tears to your eyes and squeal your head off with cuteness. Even with all of this Sakura just continued to stare, after all it's not everyday that the greatest demon of them all is reduced to such a state.

Naruto was shaking with laughter, _'Wow I forgot how he looked when he did that! Not even Hinata can resist those eyes.'_

Finally the blond managed to choke out, "Umm Sakura, I think he wants you to carry him."

Now she reacted, "W-what? He wants me to carry him?"

He nodded as he felt the eyes of death boring into him from the fox. "He's probably tired, he is on very limited chakra right now."

With a look that screamed 'What the hell am I about to do?!' Sakura turned back to Kyuubi and held her arms out.

Meanwhile Kyuubi turned away from Naruto nose in the air and jumped cleanly into Sakura's arms, where he promptly... fell asleep, leaving everyone to sweat drop at his actions.

Haku was the first to speak, "Well now, that was interesting."

A round of bobble head nods replied him.

* * *

They were now about twenty minutes outside of Konoha.

Sakura looked at the little red bundle in her arms. How could something so innocent and cute looking be such a horrible demon? He certainly seemed harmless enough like this, he practically begged to be in her arms! Just to test something that even she wasn't sure about, she tentatively reached out a hand and stroked Kyuubi's head and back. Much to her surprise the demon snuggled in closer.

She gave a small smile before thinking, _'Aw, he must like the warmth. That's so cute!'_Inner Sakura agreed although she had something more to add, **'Although if this is his true nature, what caused him to attack the village twelve years ago?'**No matter how much Sakura tried to answer that question. She could not come up with a plausible answer.

In any case for now she would just continue to pet the little guy, he was, after all, adorable!

Sasuke had watched this little scene with mild amusement and consideration, he too had come to the same conclusion. He thought he would ask Naruto about it when they were back in the village after being de-briefed seeing as the answer might take up some amount of time and that he could now just start seeing the tip of the village gates in the distance.

Naruto was not one to be oblivious to such a fact either, "Yay! We're almost home! Come on hurry up! Hurry up!"

Kakashi raised one eye lazily to the excited blond, "We'll get there when we get there, Naruto."

This did quiet him down but he now had a spring in his step.

"Naruto-san?"

He swiveled his head into the ice users direction. "Didn't I tell you that it is just Naruto?"

Haku ignored this, "Are you sure I'll be accepted into your village?"

The blond arranged his features into a gentle open smile, one that he often used as Hokage to calm down the younger children when they were upset.

"Of course I am Haku. I would not take the chance if I wasn't."

This seemed to reassure him, although you could still sense an air of nervousness around him.

"Alright then Naruto-san. I trust you."

Naruto of course grinned at this, although, he noted to himself, that he would have to break Haku out of calling him '-san'.

* * *

After taking about taking two steps within the village gates Kyuubi's ears perked up and was alert in an instant. While shocking the hell out of Sakuraand giving start to the rest of the group the little fox launched itself into the air and firmly latched itself onto the side of Naruto's head.

"Aug! What the hell Kyuu?"

"**Shut up kit, your drawing attention."**

Giving a slight grumble, the blond did as he was told and quieted down. He didn't like it but he didn't need any extra attention at the moment either.

Kakashi then spoke up, "Well are we going to go de-brief of shall I leave you ladies to shop?"

Giving an indignant huff they all headed towards the hokage tower.

* * *

About an hour, a couple headaches, a blushing Haku, and a few pissed off ninja later, the team plus Haku and a tiny Kyuubi exited the tall tower. Naruto had also explianed the situation with Kyuubiand as a result the fox was perched on his shoulder. At first glance the young kit seemed to be sleeping but upon further inspection one would see that the kit's eyes were wide and alert.

They all stood there for a moment in silence, wondering how to go about the transition they were facing, when all hell broke loose.

"NARUTOOOOO!"

The screeching voice of one seemingly shy Hyuuga heiress shocked most of those in the immediate vicinity. The said heiress careened around the corner only to crash head long into the receiver of her hysterics.

Falling over on his but with Hinata landing on top of him Naruto gasped out, "God Hinata, what happened?"

Sitting up and giving the blond the worst glare anybody on the planet had ever received the Hyuuga heiress spoke in a deadly whisper.

"What happened on that mission. Something bad happened, now what was it god dammit."

Nervously glancing from one person to the next he hesitantly replied, "Well you see Hinata, I kinda... sorta... got a raikiri through the chest."

A moment of silence passed as Hinata's eyes grew darker and the young female started shaking. Naruto, worried that she may be crying gently reached out to her.

"Are you... Hinata, are you alright?"

The shaking immediately stopped and the following moment the air was violently filled with a deafening scream.

"Naruto... you... You... YOU IDIOT!!"

The following scene was of the nature directly from a gory horror film. Screams of agony penetrated the air as a long line of curses spewed for the shy girls mouth. The curses so horrendous it would make Tayuya blush with shame.

Meanwhile the four ninja witnessing this event up close decided to make the following comments:

Kakashi looked breifly up from his book and stated quietly, "I knew it. It's always the quiet ones..."

Sasuke was simply dumbfounded, "Note to self; Never make Hinata angry."

Haku apprehensively spoke to Sakura.

"Do you think we should help him?"

"Do you want to try and stop her?"

"No, no not really."

Kyuubi just stood quietly, fur sticking up in all directions, eyes the size of dinner plates.

After a few (unbelievably long) moments the curses and screams came to and end with Hinata clinging to the shinobi for dear life. Finally she managed to choke out, "D-do you have a-any idea how w-worried I was?"

After hearing a sniff and a few ever so quiet sobs Naruto gently put his arms around her.

"Umm guys I'll meet up with you later okay?"

They all nodded as Kyuubi lept onto Naruto's back before they sped off.

Sasuke looked intently at the spot the two had just vacated. _'Whatever it is that he's hiding Hinata knows it too.'_

* * *

Five minutes later they were atop the Hokage monument. Hinata still had a few tears streaming down her face but she was calmer overall.

Naruto kneeled down to where the girl sat while gently rubbing her arm with soothing motions.

"What happened Hina-hime?"

She rubbed her eyes one last time before replying, "I think had that pain again Naruto that deep-rooted-something-really-bad's-happening-feeling like that time when you were on that mission with Sakura."

Oh he knew that mission alright, after that mission there were no more Uchiha.

"I-I'm sorry Naruto-kun. I was just so glad that you were a-alive."

The blond did the only thing he could do at the moment, he gathered her into his arms and held her as she cried.

* * *

Kakashi had quickly dispersed the small group after Naruto and Hinata had left. He appointed Sasuke and Sakura to escort Haku to his appointed shinobi housing quarters to the north of town. The shinobi housing was largely for single ninja who either did not want or could not stay with relatives.

After bidding a fond farewell to the slightly older boy the pair wandered around the village for a moment before the rosette spoke.

"Do you ever feel like Naruto is still hiding something Sasuke?"

The said boy looked over at his female companion before quickly returning his gaze back towrds the road.

"So you have noticed as well."

She gave an agreeing like noise before he continued.

"Whatever it is, I think Hinata is in on it. Or maybe apart of it."

"What do you think it could be?"

He could only sigh and shrug his shoulders, "Who knows? He will probably tell us in time though."

Sakura nodded slightly.

"True.. Hey want to get something to eat?"

"Sure, as long as it's not raman."

Sakura gave a slight giggle as they headed off towards the market district.

* * *

_'Where am I?'_

Hinata woke up to find herself staring at a cracked ceiling. After a few moments she realized she was in Naruto's room, with this in mind she slipped out the door into the living room.

Naruto was currently in the kitchen making supper when two soft arms hugged him from behind. A soft voice murmured into his back, "I love you Naruto."

Putting down the spoon, he turned around and returned the hug, "I love you too. I always will." He ended the hug with a kiss to her forehead before grabbing the plates and heading to the table.

"Come on you must be hungry."

Hinata nodded and smiled as she sat at the table,_ 'He always knows how to make me feel better.'_

Dinner was a talkative affair as Naruto and Hinata discussed his mission and what they were planning on doing next. They were interuppted only once by a bleary-eyed Kyuubi jumping up onto the table and knocking over a glass of water after just waking up. They both laugh at the now sopping wet Kyuubi as he slunk out of the kitchen to supposedly dry off.

Near the end of the meal Naruto brought up the pain in his chest.

"Hinata?"

"Yes?" The girl looked up from her plate and set her chopsticks down, sensing that this was serious.

"After the battle on the bridge I keeping noticeing a sharp pain bolting through my chest every now and then. It almost feels like lightning to describe it the best I can."

Hinata immediately stood up.

"Take off your shirt and lay on the couch."

The blond did as he was told. Within moments Hinata was examining his chest, byakugan blazing, hand glowing a soft green.

After about ten minutes the pale girl sat up and wiped the sweat for her brow. She sat still, deep in concentration for a moment before adressing Naruto.

"The raikiri struck you here, right?"

She traced a medium sized circle slightly to the right of his chest, he nodded.

"Well, from what I can tell, from the accelerated healing that Kyuubi induced the chakra pathways didn't heal properly. Like they are all jumbled up together, focused on that spot to create a reservoir of chakra, kind of like a giant chakra point now that I think about it. Although since there is no original regulatory system in place chakra just keeps filling it. To the point you may blow up I'm afraid."

"Can you do anything about it?"

Kyuubi had returned to the room a was now watching the couple intently.

The girl sighed, "Well to fix it permanently I would have to do surgery and I don't think that is an option right now."

Naruto sat up.

"What about temporarily?"

"Well I suppose a limiter seal over that area would work for the time being. However it would be fragile so you might have to get one of those mini breastplate things for more protection."

"Okay lets do that then."

Hinata nodded seriously and began to work. Since it was such an awkward place Naruto couldn't draw the seal himself but told her what to do. The seal was circular in shape, about the size of the affected area with a triangle in the middle and runes around the edge. In about half an hour it was done. The seal gleaming black like a fresh tattoo, which it also essentially looked like.

"So, Hinata, how long untill we can fix it permanently?"

Naruto gingerly put his shirt back on as he spoke.

"Well I don't have access to the required materials so I think until we are able to contact Tsunade-sama..."

The man-turned-boy grinned, "Well I guess that is just extra incentive to find her then isn't it?"

* * *

About an hour after their supper the time travelling couple found themselves at an armour store.

Most of the breastplates there covered the left side of the chest, therefore protecting the heart. Naruto however needed one for the opposite side.

"Do you see any Hina-chan?"

He turned around to see said girl gazing intently at a pair of arm guards.

"Hinata?"

"Hmm? Wha?" She came out of her trance at the sound of his voice this time, "What is it Naruto-kun?"

Making his way over to her he asked again, "I asked if you seen anything of what we are looking for?"

"Oh, um I think there may be some in that corner over there." She pointed over in a direction to her left.

Taking her advice Naruto quickly stumbled upon his objective. Among the plates were many odd looking spikes, crazy colours, and something that looked to be made out of snake skin. It took the blond fifteen whole minutes to find what he was looking for.

The breastplate wasn't particularly eye catching. It was made out of black metal with just the right amount of plating. It would fit snugly on the right side of his chest with the belts holding it in place around his chest and right shoulder. All of it would go on over his fishnet shirt but under the open one.

Naruto paid and turned around to find Hinata carrying and identical bag to his. Curiously raising one eye brow he asked, "What's in the bag?"

Grinning mischievously the violette replied, "Think I'm over due for a change of appearance don't you? Also these were the arm guards you caught me staring at earlier."

Naruto paled at the thought of clothes shopping.

"Y-y-y-you don't need any help do you?"

Smiling at his actions Hinata gently patted his arm, "No I think I can manage Naru-kun, I'll meet you back at your place to discuss things in about two hours okay?"

Naruto nodded and was gone faster then you could say dattebayo.

Once again the heiress chuckled at her would-be husbands antics and turned to wander back into the shopping district.

* * *

"So Kyuubi what do you think?"

Naruto and his demon counterpart were currently locked in conversation in training ground seven.

"**Well telling Sakura and Sasuke is inevitable, I can tell that they are suspicious of you. As are Kakashi and Sarutobi. However I believe their observations are more conclusive then the other two."**The little fox paced as Naruto sat in front of a nearby tree.

"Hmm.. If we tell them how much should we tell them? Because if we tell them everything we might be treading into very testy waters on both sides of the lake, if you know what I mean."

"**Yes. I was thinking that as well, although if we keep everything back they may not trust us."**

Naruto sighed before standing up and having Kyuubi jump on his shoulder.

"Well I guess we should talking to Hinata-chan then she should be able to help."

The fox gave an affirmative type growl as they left.

"Besides she should be home soon."

* * *

The boy and demon were home for about twenty minutes before the door opened. Naruto looked over to see the object of his affections opening the door holding three bags.

Hinata looked up to see both of them looking at her, "What do I have something on my face?"

They shook their heads negative.

"Alrighty then well, I'm going to change and show you what I bought!"

Naruto and Kyuubi just stared as she dashed to the bathroom.

"Women."

"**I second that opinion."**

About five minutes later the door swung inward to reveal a happy Hyuuga. She took a step forward, spun around once, and asked, "Well, do you like it?"

And the only thing he could do was gape.

Hinatawas wearing a full fishnet body suit with a deep indigo shirt that went to just below her belly button. A wide black belt was attached loosely to her hips between her shirt a black short shorts with multiple little pockets and places for attaching her staff, the standard pouch on the back left. Her black gloves attached to her black arm guards with paler indigo designs carved into the light weight metal. Her hitai-ate was tied around her right upper arm and in the place left around her neck was a lavender coloured crystal. On her feet were the more feminine shinobi sandals, she also had bandages wrapping around her legs up to her knees with the kunai holder on the right upper leg.

"Well?"

Naruto nodded energetically._ 'Holy shit does she look good.'_True he was. Hinata had never dressed in such a manner before. She had always worn baggy clothes when she was shy before, then when she had come out of her shell when they had started dating she went straight into the standard jounin uniform. After that they had Kia so she couldn't exactly walk around looking so... deadly so... god damn hot.

To say that he was blown away was the understatement of the year.

Then something hit him.

"What do you think Hiashi will say?"

She flopped on the couch while answering, "I think he'll be to shocked first, then... hmm I'm not sure I guess I'll find out later won't I?"

"In any case," The blonde's voice grew serious, "Kyuubi and I were talking, and we think it is best to tell Sasuke and Sakura soon."

Hinata rubbed her temples, "Well we knew it had to be done, and I suppose its best if we do it before the chunin exams. What about the others though? My team is slightly suspicious but I think they chalk it up to me being around you more. And Kakashi?"

"I'm not sure but I will have to tell him at some point and I may just have to bring the old man in on this soon as well. I think Kakashi can wait until after the first two exams."

"Will we tell Sasuke about Itachi?"

"He deserves to know."

Hinata nodded, this was something that they had been thinking about for months.

"Well Naruto it's getting late so I'm going to go home now okay?"

He nodded, mind reeling on what still needed to be done before the chunin exam. Hinata gracefully got up from her seat and kissed the slightly zoned out blond on the cheek before heading to the door.

"Good night Naruto-kun."

"Night Hina-chan."

* * *

There were many things on her mind as she made her way home. Mainly what her father would say about her... choice of attire. Another was about what she would so about Neji in the chunin exam, she couldn't just lose like that again.

Her thoughts stopped as she walked through the front gates of the Hyuuga complex. This was going to be an interesting conversation to say the least.

She came face to face with her father as she walked down the hall to her bedroom.

"Hinata, what are you wearing."

It was more of a statement then a question.

"Well father, I thought it was about time that I dressed in an effective way. The baggy-ness of my other clothes were hindering my movements."

"Hindering your movements? I realise that you have made adequate progress in the last few months but no where near what is expected of you. I expected that you dress accordingly."

Hinata giggled at her father.

"Expected? Do you really want to see what I can do?"

Hiashi grew stiff. She had never been like this before.

"Very well you shall spar with Hanabi."

"Tonight?"

"Yes. Tonight. Be in the dojo in ten minutes."

Hinata nodded, "Very well... Father."

True to her word she was in the dojo in ten minutes, staff in the holder on her belt, diagonal across the back of her waist. Hinata'sfather stood across from her on the other side of the dojo her little sister, Hanabi, at his side.

"Hinata, this session will go on untill one of you either quits or falls unconscious. Is that clear, Hinata, Hanabi?"

"Yes father." They both chorused.

"Very well, begin."

At once Hanabi slipped into the gentle fist stance, however Hinata simply stood there with her eyes closed.

"What! Are you not going to fight?!"

Hinata quietly replied, "Are you going to attack me or not?"

Enraged the younger sister charged the elder, a slpit second before the blow came into contact Hinata... disappeared.

_'Where did she go?'_

As she was scanning the area with her byakugan she felt a slight tape on her back, directly in her blind spot. _'What the hell?'_Hanabi whipped around to find Hinata, still with her eyes closed, pointing her staff at her. _'How did she...?'_

Without wasting a further momnet Hanabi began striking, open fisted, at her opponent. Only to have each strike blocked. After a few moments she stopped, and with this ease in the tide Hinata decided to make her move.

Throwing her staff up in the air she landed three strikes on Hanabi, jumped over the girl as she retaliated, caught her staff and swept Hanabi's feet out from under her.

As the girl was picking herself up off the ground Hinata questioned her, "Are you sure you want to continue?"

Hanabi, now red in the face from either anger or embarrassment, retorted, "Ya right. Quitting is for losers."

Sighing Hinata finally opened her eyes, byakugan blazing. "Fine. Have it your way."

The older girl put away her staff and pulled out a hand full of shuriken and threw them at various points around the room. Hanabi, however, began charging. When she about three feet from making contact she stopped abruptly. _'Wires.' _Hanabi tried to spin out of it but it was too late.

A soft voice emerged from behind her.

"I'm sorry Hanabi but you didn't quit."

Hinata then pinched a nerve on her little sisters neck and Hanabi's world went black.

Quickly catching the knocked out girl she layed her softly on the ground. She had proceeded to wrap her wires back up and put away her shuriken when the deep voice of her father interrupted.

"Hinata. What is the meaning of this?"

Without turning around she answered him, "I have grown strong father, I am not weak anymore. I think it would be best if you just accepted that."

Hiashi motioned to one of the servants to take Hanabi away as he spoke next, "Tomorrow you will not go with your team. Instead you will stay here and train with me untill I can assess what level you are at, then you will only be out with your team on missions and training here the rest of the time."

"No."

Hiashi's face grew stern.

"What did you say."

Turning around Hinata repeated herself, "I said no. Learning the gentle fist is great and all but it's not the only thing. I believe that I know as much as I need to know on that subject and I am now learning more with the rest of my team. I will continue to train with you for a few hours in the morning but that will be all."

Taken aback by his daughters 'sudden' boldness Hiashi said the only thing that he could come up with, "I will speak to you about this in the morning. Goodnight."

Smirking at her fathers retreating back the thought to herself, _'Oh what a wonderful mess this is.' _

* * *

**Author's Note: **Aahg I'm sorry that this is shorter then usual (Only 4000 something words) but I really had no clue what to put here to make this a chapter haha 'sweatdrop' Also half of this was literally pulled out of my ass. I Hope it's all right. Also I'm sorry for the choppy-ness and the sappy bit lol.

On another note I am looking for a beta. If you are interested please PM me or say so in your review whatever. Also I need an idea about what to do with Orochimaru (well that's not true I need a good idea) I have like three possible things I could do but I'm really not sure. If you have any idea's once again please contact me.

Oh and the dialogue and scene from where Hinata first sees Naruto again was inspired/taken by donation from **YamiKyuubi **Thank you!

Now without further ado...

R

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	13. Burning the Veil

**Author's Note: **Well here we are again! My parents dragged me camping so here I am all weekend with only trees to look at lol. I had the sense to bring my laptop though! And wow a chapter without a late apology O.O yay! Also it's the longest one yet! Anyway here ya go, chapter 13!

P.S. I now have a new beta! Dr. Yami!

**Beta's Note: ****Yo. Hope you enjoy my edits. Please note that you might wanna re-read the Ichiraku ramen stand scene, and the conversation where Kyuubi explains about Uchiha Madara, as those are the biggest edits I made.**

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

"**Kyuubi/Inner Talking"**

**_'Kyuubi/Inner Thinking'_**

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything else!  
(B/N: Nor do you own me, Dr. Yami) (A/N: I know I know!! Sheesh...)

* * *

Revelance of the Future

Chapter 13

Burning the Veil

By: Ginriku

Edited By: Dr. Yami

* * *

The next morning Hinata walked into the dinning room only to find her Father already there.

"Yes, Father?"

Hiashi shifted to get a better view of her.

"What has changed your behavior?"

Hinata sighed. Her father always was a blunt one. "I have. I was sick of being weak and useless, so I decided to change it."

His brows knitted together, "One does not change simply because they decide to. Who has done this."

Getting sick of his attitude, Hinata tersely replied, "You mean who has inspired me? You really want to know, don't you? Why, I doubt you're going to thank them. More like ban me from ever seeing them again. Well do you know what Father? I'm not going to tell you who inspired, and I am most certainly not about to let you bar them from my life."

Hiashi stood up. How dare she talk to him, her father and clan leader, in such a manner!

"Now you listen here _daughter_. You **will** obey my commands. Do you hear me?"

"Or what?"

Hiashi's glare would've made ice look warm. "Or I will **disown** you."

Hinata laughed, "I dare you to try, _Father_."

The Hyuuga head was taken aback. He was positive that that would shock her. Never before had she shown such… such backbone! Instead of countering he simply turned to the door and began to leave. However before he touched the door to slide it open he heard Hinata's voice once more.

"Why are you so cold Father? Did okaa-san's death cut you that deeply? Is it because I look so much like her?" Her tone was soft, yet undeniably cold, and firm.

Hearing that voice come for his eldest daughter broke something inside of him. Something that he hoped would never open up again. His heart. He left the room without another word.

Not missing the change in posture, Hinata smiled. Those questions had had just the effect she wanted.

* * *

A week passed and our time traveling heroes began to get anxious. There was just one anomaly that they had to fill in.

Hinata titled her head towards her lover. "So, Naruto-kun, what about team ten? They don't have one of us to push them to get stronger. Wouldn't they be at the same level as they were last time?"

The couple was currently sitting under a tree in a secluded area of the park. It was about ten in the morning a soft breeze could be felt coming from the west.

The blond sighed; this gave him a headache a few nights ago when Kyuubi brought it up.

"Well, I came to a conclusion. Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma are friends right? So therefore they would boast about how well their team would be doing. Also, since Kurenai and Asuma are dating, well, will be dating, they have a close relationship already. So, naturally, Kakashi and Kurenai will have bragged to Asuma how well we're doing which will have Asuma whipping the InoShikaChou trio to be as good as us." He waved his hand vaguely. "The whole male competition gene acting up and what not."

Hinata giggled, smiling. She knew that gene only too well. Every man alive seemed to suffer from it.

"Hopefully, of course."

"Yes. Hopefully."

The smile on the girl's face shrank a little, "You know that if they aren't, we're next to screwed right?"

The blonde sighed again. "Yeah. It'll make everything that much harder."

And indeed it would. It was barely a month to go before the chunin exams and they still needed to bring in Sakura, Sasuke, and the Third in on their secret if they wanted their plan to succeed. Naruto also had to find Jiraiya, and Tsunade if he could manage it, and bring them back to Konoha for the impending battle.

On the bright side, their training was coming along swimmingly. Sakura could now heal not-so-basic wounds and her stamina and strength was way up. Sasuke was fast as hell when he took off his weights, even without them he was a speedy little bugger. He had increased his jutsu range and was focusing on training both with and without the sharingan. Naruto's speed had drastically increased as well, though it was no where near what it once was, but it would do for now. The blonde's chakra control was up to par with his sixteen year-old self. Not as good as it could be, but greatly increased overall. Hinata was up to her sixteen year-old self as well, in terms of strength. However, her jutsu base was much larger. Kiba and Shino were coming along nicely as well, they were both around their sixteen year-old power.

"Well, Naruto-kun, when are we going to tell them?"

Naruto stood up, brushed off his pants, and helped Hinata up as he replied, "Later today, after training maybe?"

The violet haired girl nodded, "Okay, how about you bring them to the top of the Hokage monument around six-thirty? That should give us enough distance from anyone to avoid being overheard."

The to-be Hokage smiled, "Sounds good. I'll see you then Hina-chan!"

She smiled too, despite the slightly queasy feeling in her stomach. "See you later Naruto-kun."

They gave each other a quick hug, Hinata giving the blonde a peck on the cheek as well, before they parted ways.

* * *

For some reason that day seemed to drag on forever. Team seven meet up at the bridge at eleven, did a few D-rank missions, and trained the rest of the day.

For the most part everything went smoothly, albeit slowly. So slowly that when they finished their missions they were surprised it was only four in the afternoon. After their warm-ups, Kakashi decided that they should spar against each other to fully get to know the others' style. No ninjutsu allowed, of course. They weren't trying to kill each other after all.

The masked jounin, going on that premise, decided to pit Sakura against Sasuke and have the winner fight Naruto.

Their fight lasted roughly ten minutes. Sakura put up a pretty good fight, but in the end, lost. For all intents and purposes, Sasuke just had more chakra, and she had run out. Though her reserves had increased greatly compared to before, she just didn't have as much as the boys.

Then it was Sasuke's and Naruto's turn. The blonde decided to leave Kyuubi on the sidelines, so the fight was more equal; if one versus seventeen was anywhere near equal. They were ninja. There's no such thing as cheating in the ninja world. Never the less, Naruto held back. In the end the score was what you would expect it to be: Naruto won. He used a few kage bunshin to hold Sasuke down using chakra infused wires, while the real Naruto brought his metal claws an inch away from his neck. Not that Sasuke didn't put up a good fight. Oh no, quite the opposite. Their battle went on for about forty-five minutes. Pretty long, all things considered

Breathing heavily Naruto put away his claws and cancelled his clones.

He gave a small grin. "Nice job," he managed between breaths.

Sasuke just nodded weakly. Anything that had the blonde chakra powerhouse breathing heavily would have anyone else short of Gai or Lee exhausted too.

Both breathless, they wearily wandered around the training area collecting their weaponry. Sasuke's sword was lodged into the trunk of a tree and took both of the genin to haul it out. When they made their way back over to the rest of the team, Kakashi's only eye that they could see was wide as it could be, and Sakura's jaw was brushing the floor.

The boys both spoke at the same time, "What?"

Kakashi quickly composed himself as Sakura squealed, "You guys were awesome!"

A wide smile made itself known on Naruto's face and even a smirk that was almost a smile graced Sasuke's visage.

Kakashi also had some praise to offer, "Yes boys, quite good. Now, how about we end training early for today? I have some business to take care of. Later."

Without another word he poofed away.

_Naruto gave a weary sigh__. 'Well this is annoying. Now I have an hour and a half before we have to meet up with Hina-chan. May as well invite them for supper.' __He turned to his teammates_

"So, guys, whose up for ramen?"

Kyuubi hopped up on the boy's shoulder as his teammates merely nodded agreement.

* * *

Once the arrived at the Ichiraku ramen stand. Naruto brought up the subject of going to the Hokage monument.

"Sooo, guys."

Sasuke and Sakura looked up for their noodles. Usually nothing could tear Naruto away from his ramen, except Hinata of course, but that was a different story. To make him actually talk before he finished was astonishing, considering that he could eat it all within thirty seconds.

Sakura answered. "Ya?"

The jinchuuriki hesitated for a moment, and within this moment Kyuubi took the opportunity to jump onto his head. **_'Don't screw this up kit.'_**

Naruto silently agreed with the kitsune. "I know you guys have been pretty suspicious of me…"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, directing a small glare at the blonde. '_Of course we've been suspicious! You went from dead last to being as strong as you are now in the space of a day!'_

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Don't look at me like that Sasuke, it won't do you any good." He lazily slurped a noodle as his teammates paid rapt attention. "Anyway, I would like to clear everything up. And by everything, I mean _everything_."

Both of his teammates' eyes went wide. _'Is he kidding?!'_

It was Sakura who verbally spoke. "You're serious?" **'Cha! We're finally gonna find out how he got so strong!' **He nodded.

"Can we ask questions?"

That was when Sasuke decided to add his two cents. "Use your common sense Sakura, of course we can ask questions."

And that was when hell froze over.

There was no warning. Absolutely none at all. Her face didn't change expression in the slightest. She just decked the Uchiha scion across the face. "**SHANARO! Shut up and let Naruto-baka finish!" **THEN the angry tic appeared above her eye.

The Uchiha, having been knocked out of his seat, just sat staring at her, rubbing his face. '_She hit me. She actually hit me! Is it that time of month? Does she want to know THAT badly?"_

Naruto, after taking a moment to pinch himself to see if he was dreaming, intervened before Sasuke ended up swallowing a few teeth. "Uh, Sakura?"

Now she rounded on Naruto, anger mark gone. "Yes, Naruto?" The complete and sudden calm, the sickly sweet innocence of her voice, scared the blonde beyond belief.

"Y-y-you can ask as m-many questions as you w-w-want!"

Sasuke still couldn't believe what had happened, Naruto was going over his jutsu list to keep himself from bolting, and even Kyuubi was a bit freaked out by Sakura's tone of voice. Thankfully, however, Naruto's last comment seemed to snap the presumed PMSing, split-personality-from-hell girl out of her self-made house of horrors.

Just like that, she was all sunshine and smiles again "Okay!"

That somehow made it all the creepier.

Needless to say the boys were quite careful about what they said after that, and Sasuke was sure to always remain just out of arms reach of the pink haired banshee.

Seeing things were more or less back to normal (Since when was the ninja world normal?), Naruto helped Sasuke back into his seat, and continued what he was saying. "So, ah, anyway, Sasuke, Sakura. When we're finished here, how about we head up to the top of the Hokage monument, alright?"

Judging by the way that they both started shoveling noodles into their mouths, they wanted to get there quickly.

* * *

By the time they got to the designated meeting spot it was about six twenty-five. Five minutes early, but Naruto knew that Hinata wasn't late. Ever. So needless to say, she was already there.

"What's Hinata doing here?" It was Sakura who broke the otherwise silent ascent.

The blond paused before replying. "She's in on this too." He then spoke to the white-eyed girl. "We're here Hina-chan!"

The said girl giggled, "I can tell that Naruto-kun. Anyway, I already set up the clearing with the silencing jutsu, so make yourselves comfortable."

The clearing that they had just walked into wasn't overly large, about fifteen feet in diameter. There were odd seals written on paper on many of the trees surrounding the area, presumably made for silence and privacy, and probably would alert those inside their range if anyone approached. The grass beneath their feet was a soft pale green and in the center of the clearing there were two fallen logs.

"Well, if you two would take a seat." Naruto gestured toward the logs.

The two genin still in the dark sat on the log across from Naruto and Hinata. The gears in Sasuke's mind were turning like crazy; he was trying to guess what the two were about to say._ ' What could possibly have let him get so powerful so quickly? How is Hinata involved in this?'_

Hinata began slowly, "I know that you guys are suspicious of us, as Naruto-kun must have already said. In any case, I am a part of that secret as well."

The male time traveler took a deep breath, "I'm not quite sure how to put it lightly, so I'm going to just say it alright?" There was a collective nod from the other two. "Okay. I, we, are from the future."

The pink haired girl and brooding avenger stared at them in open disbelief. Sakura spoke first. "Come again?"

They both shifted in their seats a little and Hinata repeated, "We are from the future."

Sasuke finally seemed to be able to speak again as he said in a rather breathless voice, "You're serious."

Naruto nodded. "Dead serious."

The Uchiha then seemed to think for a moment as Sakura was gaping like a fish out of water, "Well, that would explain a hell of a lot."

Naruto chuckled nervously, "So any questions?"

Sakura came back to her senses and her hand shot up. School reflexes aren't ironed out overnight after all. Or even over the period of several months.

"Yes, Sakura?"

Blushing embarrassedly she put her hand down and asked, "Why did you guys come back?"

The blonde glanced at Hinata before replying in an accusing voice, "Well Hinata-chan wasn't supposed to." She had the grace to look embarrassed. Naruto's voice turned grave, "I came back because if I didn't, the leaf would've been destroyed. Was about to be destroyed. There were so, so many dead already…" His voice trailed off as the memories replayed before his eyes.

Sakura posed another question. "How far in the future do you two come from?"

Naruto shook himself out of his reverie "About thirteen years in the future. I was twenty-six."

Sasuke then voiced his question, "Did I manage to kill Itachi?"

Both of the time travelers hesitated. They had hoped that this topic would come up later. It was Naruto once again who answered, "Yes, you did manage to kill him. But at a price."

"What kind of price?" The raven's eyes narrowed.

"Your friends. Your village. Your very sanity."

"How." That was a demand, not a question.

They both sighed; this was going to be a long explanation. Hinata began, "Well, in about a month there is going to be the chunin exams. Last time, during those exams, a man named Orochimaru," Sakura gasped. She knew well who that man was. Hinata continued. "Decided that he would come and claim you, so to speak. You see, he wanted the sharingan. He ended up placing the curse seal on you. Because of the seal, your darkest urges began to gain control of you, whittling away at your sanity. You ended up leaving the village to go and train under him."

That shocked them. Sakura was once again the first to comment, "Sasuke betrayed the village!?" Her voice was that of utter disbelief.

Naruto interjected, "And that's not the worst part. After he killed Orochimaru and Itachi, he started planning the destruction of the Konoha."

Sasuke couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had left the village AND plotted to destroy it!? _'But I never even thought about anything even close to that! EVER.' _To say that he was shocked would be an understatement.

Sakura's small voice questioned, "Is that why you came back?"

The blond had a thin, sad smile on his face, "Oh no. I had to take care of Sasuke about nine years before I had to come back."

"By 'take care of', you mean…" Sasuke trailed off, almost afraid of what he might hear.

Naruto's eyes lowered, ashamed of what he had done, "Yes. By 'take care of', I mean that I had to kill you. What happened… Sakura and I were on a mission to try to negotiate with you, when you… When you snapped, I suppose. The fight went on for a long time… When it came down to the last round, so to speak, you managed to… skewer," Sakura winced at his choice of words, "Sakura right through the stomach with a poisoned blade. You just… flicked her off… like she was a rag doll… like there was a piece of trash that had gotten stuck on your blade…" Sasuke couldn't help but grimace. That he could become so cold… so cruel…

"When I asked you why… Why you had done all this… all you said was, 'Because I can.' It just made me so mad. I managed to grab Sakura with a kage bunshin, and got her to the hospital in time. She was in a coma for a few weeks. After I… did what I had to do… I don't think I managed a good night's sleep for over a month…"

Naruto was lost in his own little world, eyes glazed over and unseeing, trapped in his memories. Hinata gently took his hand and spoke again, "I never want to see him that way, the way he was when he came back into the village, ever again. I'm not sure if I could handle that." She turned to the grimacing Uchiha with a small, sad smile. "Although, Sasuke, we believe that you only did what you did because of the influence of Orochimaru's cursed seal. That's one of our main objectives. To stop Orochimaru."

Sasuke accepted that, the look on his friends' faces was enough to convince him that whatever power he might gain from Orochimaru, it wasn't worth it. Certainly not such haunted looks. Although, he couldn't help but wonder about something.

"So, you have more then one objective?" It was more of a statement then a question.

The heiress looked at the ground and answered softly, "Well our other objective is to wipe out a group of people. They call themselves the Akatsuki. What they are doing is capturing Jinchuurki's, and extracting the demons jailed inside of them. We need to bring them down. Sasuke, your brother is a member."

At this Sasuke's hands curled into fists, his brow furrowed in rage, eyes flickering between black and red, the memories rushing back.

_'You lack hatred...'_

_'Become strong to defeat me...'_

_'You will never be strong enough...'_

_'Foolish little brother...'_

Naruto, finally coming out of his trance, heard the last bit of Hinata's sentence and saw the effects on the raven-haired boy.

"Sasuke, don't act like that. Everything that Itachi did isn't as it seems."

Now the red eyes were glared in his direction. "How can you say that! He murdered our entire family!"

Seeing that he may need an intimidation factor to make the young Uchiha listen he let some of Kyuubi's chakra bleed into his eyes, tinting them purple.

"He's working as a spy for Konoha."

"What are you talking about?" Anger and disbelief seeped into his tone, making Sakura next to him flinch. His tone was that of barely restrained fury.

Everyone hung on to the blonde's next words, power and truth lacing his tone.

"Before the massacre, the Uchiha clan was planning a coup de'tat. Itachi was the last link to the village, promoted to ANBU captain at age thirteen. Your father and clan used him as a spy, but he was loyal to the village first. Your brother, only 4 years old, had seen the horrors of the last Great Shinobi War. He knew that, if civil war were to erupt in Konoha, other villages would take this chance to attack, and it would be a 4th Shinobi War. He wanted to avoid that at any cost.

"Now, why did the Uchiha want to usurp the village? You see, the Uchiha were fed up with how the village was treating him. The council placed blame on the Uchiha for the Kyuubi attack, since the sharingan could control the Kyuubi. In the end, it was really Uchiha Madara who enslaved Kyuubi and forced him to attack the village, in an attempt to destroy it. So, naturally, the council thought it was reasonable to put sanctions on that clan. The third was against it but three of the council over ruled it and the bills were passed.

"The three on the council were Danzou, and Sandaime's former teammates, Homura, and Koharu. Those three are also responsible for the massacre. Sarutobi tried to come to an agreement with the clan, but once again, those three overruled him and sent the order to Itachi.

"Itachi was faced with a very tough choice. He could kill the Uchiha clan and stop the world from going into a 4th Great Shinobi War, or let the coup de'tat happen, and thus open the doors for said war. In the simplest terms, it was a kill one, save a thousand, kind of deal. Or rather, kill a clan, save the world. Konoha was definitely not ready for a war like that so soon."

Even though the explanation was the complete and utter truth Sasuke still felt himself grappling with it. After all one, couldn't just alter their way of think after years of believing it, living it. It wasn't that he didn't believe it; it was that he didn't _want_ to believe it. To believe his own clan had wanted to start war within the village, to believe his own village had ordered the execution of his clan…

But this truth, it was one of those truths you could feel with every fiber of your being, sending a shiver to every portion of your body. This was the feel of an irrefutable truth.

The boy's world was practically turned upside down. '_Everything that I had believed, everything that I thought was true about that day... Was just a cover up! My entire life, my goal, my ambition, a complete lie!'_

After a few moments Sasuke manage to choke out, "Then why does he want me to grow strong and defeat him then? What's your answer for that?!" The sorrow, the confusion, the rage, all of it was evident in his words.

Naruto's shining violet orbs closed. This was hard for him, he knew that, but he also needed to get over it.

"He wants you to defeat him, he wants you to grow strong and get over everything, because he feels guilty for what he did. He thinks that if you kill him he may be able to atone for his sins."

Sasuke's eyes glinted, "And what exactly happened last time?"

Hinata shifted and looked away. Sakura just looked shocked. Naruto continued to answer his questions.

"You went crazy. You were so obsessed with power that you did anything you could get it. Including betraying the village and because of that Itachi only blamed himself more. He wanted you to become strong and loyal to the village, but you did the opposite. Once you became strong enough, and learned the truth so late, you sought to destroy the village that you should have been loyal to."

Tension was thick in the air as the Uchiha continued to fight himself. After countless minutes of strained silence Sasuke seemed to come to a conclusion. He sighed and rubbed his temples to relieve the pressure of a coming headache. He doubted he would sleep tonight.

Sakura, not able to handle the silence anymore, she burst forth with the question that had been on her mind for a while now. "So, in the end, whose fault is it? Because as far as I can see, this can all trace back to the Kyuubi attack or even before... Someone must be the cause of all this."

It was then that the small fox known as Kyuubi hopped down from a nearby tree from which he had been observing everything. As he spoke he began pacing between the young genin.

"**Yes, there is one person at fault. His name is Uchiha Madara. And yes, it does date back to before the attack. In fact, it dates back to the time of the first Hokage."**

Everyone turned to the fox, who now had their complete attention. As he told his story, he continued to pace.

"**Long ago, before the village of Konoha had formed, ninja were in a constant state of war. Each ninja was loyal to his own clan, and each clan fought all the other clans for dominance. Two of these clans were the Senju clan, and the Uchiha clan." **The fox paused and turned towards the genins.

"**The Senju and the Uchiha clan were undoubtedly the two most powerful clans. They were also great rivals. Whenever one clan went into a battle, the other was sure to be on the opposing side. Each clan had a great leader. Of the Uchiha, their leader was Uchiha Madara. Of the Senju, Senju Hashirama.**

"**Now, through their many battles, the two clan leaders came to respect each others power. Eventually, an alliance was formed. Once the two clans allied, the quickly began to dominate many other clans. Soon, Konohagakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, was created.**

"**But alas, there was a conflict. Madara wanted to lead the village, for throughout their alliance, the Uchiha clan had become little more than guard dogs of the Senju clan. However, his clan disagreed with him, as did the rest of the village. And so, Hashirama become the Shodai (First) Hokage. Disgraced, Madara left the village.**

"**But is was not over then. By leaving the village, Madara was declared a missing-nin, and Hashirama gave chase to them. When they battled, I was summoned, and controlled. The battle created what you know as the Valley of End. Alas, The Shodai could suppress my abilities to a degree, and Madara lost. I returned to the spirit world, and the Shodai returned to his village, both of us believing Madara to be dead.**

"**However, somehow, Madara survived. He spent years regaining his power, so that he may summon me again and attempt to destroy Konoha, as was the case twelve years ago. But again, Madara was defeated, this time by the Yondaime. Now, he is the leader of Akatsuki, and he seeks to gather ALL the tailed beasts, and destroy Konoha once and for all."**

By the time he was finished, the sun had set and the stars were beginning to come out. The mood was slightly morose, but they all seemed to have an understanding of what they had to do and what was to come. A few questions however still needed to be asked.

Once again, Sakura seemed to ask the important questions, "Are you going to tell Hokage-sama or even Kakashi-sensei?"

Hinata decided it was about time she spoke up and answered, "Yes, we're going to tell Hokage-sama next, probably sometime within the next week, as for Kakashi... We're not quite sure when to tell him..."

Next to her Naruto nodded and a sly grin crept across his face, eyes fading back into their sapphirine hue, instantly breaking the serious air to the conversation. "Come on Sakura, I know you have some less... serious... questions to ask. You are, after all, a born gossip."

At that the rosette blushed as dark as her hair but continued on despite her embarrassment, "Naruto, I swear one day your gonna regret saying that, but in the meantime... Who does Ino-pig end up with!?"

The last part was rushed, as if she couldn't wait to get the question out. Chuckling the question was answered, "Heh, Ino actually ended up with Shikamaru. They had a little boy named Shikone who was six when we left."

Her eyes widened. That was preftect! Sasuke was all hers! "What about the others?"

"Well, Asuma and Kurenai got together, they had a boy named Asuka who was eleven. Neji and Tenten, you'll meet them in the chunin exams, had a little girl named Teran, she was five..."

Naruto's voice trailed off. Sakura's eyes narrowed. Something else was there, "What about you two? You are obviously more then just friends."

Hinata twiddled her thumbs, something she hadn't done in a long time before she responded, "Naruto and I are-… were, married. We had a little girl who was five. Her name was Kianta, but we just called her Kia for short."

Naruto grabbed one of her hands and softly brushed his thumb over her knuckles, "But I wouldn't have wanted her to grow up in that world anyway. One of the reasons I finally made the decision to come back. That world was too far beyond repair."

The somber expression on the group was enough to let anyone know that there was no joking about it, no acting, no smoke and mirrors, no nothing. It was, pure and simple, just the daunting truth.

Naruto stood up and caused everyone to look at him, "Well, I think that's enough depressing conversation for one night. How about we all go home?"

Soft smiles greeted him from Sakura and Hinata while Sasuke just smirked.

"One more question, dobe."

The blond raised one fine golden eyebrow, "What?"

"Did you finally make it to Hokage?"

The smirk on Sasuke's face said it all, meanwhile a foxy grin took over Naruto's.

"Damn straight I did teme!"

* * *

During the next week, all of them had threw themselves even more into their training, desperate to make a difference in the outcome of the future.

On a few separate occasions, the duo talked to Sasuke and Sakura about what would happen during the chunin exams. While they still weren't sure exactly what their course of action would be, they were at least were prepared.

"Hey, Naruto?"

Him and Sakura were sitting under a tree, taking a short breather from training.

"Ya, Sakura?"

The rosette fidgeted a second, while making sure no one was in hearing distance of them (except for Kyuubi, who was lazily stretched out on a branch above them snoozing) before spitting it out, "Well, you said that you and Sasuke were trained under two of the Sannin, Jiraiya and Orochimaru, but what about me?"

Naruto slapped his forehead, how had they forgotten to tell her?!

"Gah! Forgot about that! Anyway, you were trained under the last Sannin, Tsunade."

Her eyes grew wide, "Really!?"

Naruto nodded. "Yep. She even taught you the secret to her super strength, something about absolute perfect chakra control. Anyway, you could cause a mini earthquake with just one finger! I can't even count the times you sent me flying through a wall or a tree. Or thirty-seven of them. Sometimes, I swear you gave me brain damage with that temper of yours."

Sakura laughed at the mental picture she gave him.

"I was that good?"

"Oh ya, after a while you even surpassed the old hag. You were the head of the hospital after all, and one of my top advisers."

A strange glint came into her emerald eyes as he watched her stand up. Suddenly, he had a very bad feeling about the pink haired girl in front of him.

"W-what are you planning, Sakura?"

She turned back to stuttering blond, "What do you think? I'm gonna get a head start on that strength technique!"

Naruto just sweat dropped as he watched her wander, off mumbling theories about how to achieve such a skill.

_'Dear Kami. What have I unleashed upon our world?'_

After a moment, Sasuke flopped down next to the blonde, sword still out and sweating. He had just reduced a training log to little more then saw dust.

Seeing the way the blonde was acting, and how Sakura was stalking away, muttering under her breath, he asked. "What's with Sakura?"

Naruto composed himself, "I told her what she could do in the future."

Sasuke just gave him a look.

"She was trained by Tsunade, one of the Sannin. You did **not** want to be on the receiving end of one of her punches. She accidentally clocked Kiba in the head once, when she was going after me. He didn't see the light of day for a week, and when he did, he was staring at the ceiling of the hospital for another week and a half."

The Uchiha simply winced.

"So, why did you decide to come back anyway? What made you even think about it?"

"It wasn't my time." Naruto spoke with a low voice, "I wasn't going out to that battle, there was a fear in me that that could be the end of me and everything I knew. I couldn't go. After all, the future isn't written in stone. It's not even written in wood. It's written in metal. Soft, moldable, metal. If you apply enough heat, of course."

Sasuke looked at him. He hadn't thought of it like that before. Suddenly he stood up. If this was going to work, they had to be at their best. "Well dobe, are you just gonna sit there or are we going to train? Although I don't mind beating the crap out of you if decide to just to grow into the ground."

Sensing the challenge, the blonde instantly hopped to his feet, "Yeah right teme! I'll mop the floor with your ass!"

* * *

The next day around, four in the afternoon, the old Hokage found himself staring out the window in his office.

_'The chunin exams are coming up fast, and it seems as though all three rookie teams are going to be entered this year. From what I hear from the senseis, all three teams have grown far stronger, far quicker then we could ever have imagined. Even my lazy assed son's team is doing exceedingly well.'_

The man drew another puff on his pipe and turned back to his desk, _'When will this paperwork ever end? Damn it Minato, why couldn't you have invented an anti-paperwork jutsu...' _He chuckled dryly, _'If he had been in office longer, he probably would have.' _

The thought of his late successor saddened him slightly, _'He would have gone so far...'_

A few moments later he heard a slight tap on his door, before it opened.

"Hey! Old man!"

The Hokage set down his pen, _'Naruto...' _When he turned around he was inwardly startled at the Hyuuga's state of dress accompanying him, in all of her fishnetted, bandaged, short shorted-ness. _'What on earth happened to Hinata?! I can't believe Hiashi would let her wear something like that, in public no less!'_

Never the less, the old shinobi showed on emotion other then mild surprise at the abrupt meeting. As he observed the two he noted how well they complemented each other. Hinata's dark hair and lavender tinted pearl-like eyes, which were expressing anxiety. Naruto's sun-kissed blonde, untamed hair, and eyes bluer then the ocean, virtual sapphires. They had a fire burning in them that he hadn't seen since the Kyuubi attack.

He met the Sandaime's eyes in a direct stare with those two burning blue orbs.

"We need to talk."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Well there you have it! Chapter 13! I think I did pretty good if I do say so myself. Although hell that conversation was hella long! OMG don't worry you'll never have to sit through another like that again (I hope lol). Anyway just to warn you I'm going on vacation for most of the month of August although I will have my laptop with me I may not always have Internet. I will however try to get another chapter out before then!

**Beta's Note: ****For every one of you who reads this and DOESN'T review, I shall eat a kitty . Don't mess with me. I ****KNOW. ****  
"If violence doesn't work, you're not using enough."**

Please...

R

E

V

I

E

W!!


	14. Grains of Sand

**Author's Note:** Well here's the next chapter! And just to tell all of you that the edited version of the last chapter is up and there have been two major changes in two scenes: The Ichiraku ramen one and where Kyuubi is talking in the clearing. Also the overall chapter is waaay better. A big giant thank you to Dr. Yami for that!!

P.S. I have a new computer! So ya lol. Also I had major writers block after the scene with Sarutobi so that's part of the reason why it took so longer (It was so bad that I went and re-read my entire fic. It was crazy how many errors I missed and how many little side plots I forgot about!), and school starting up again. I really hate my math teacher... plus spore is addicting...

**Beta's Note:** Oi vay… They have spell check for a reason Gin. Also, don't be afraid to look up a name if you can't quite recall how to spell it. (A/N: Ya ya I know lol.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Unfortunately. (B/N: Yes, it is quite unfortunate that you do not own my magnificence.)(A/N: TT.TT)

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

"Kyuubi/Inner Talking"

_'Kyuubi/Inner Thinking'_

* * *

Revelance of the Future

Chapter 14

Grains of Sand

Author: Ginriku

Editor: Dr. Yami

* * *

A red haired, jade-eyed figure glared at the sliver of the moon.

A blond, honey-brown eyed gambler stared at the three sevens on the slot machine.

A tall, white-haired pervert gazed at the gates to his hometown.

Something was happening... Something that was changing the very course of the future.

* * *

"We need to talk."

The elderly shinobi took a puff on his pipe as he watched the two young genin enter into the room. As they stood before him he chuckled softly and spoke, "Why Naruto, it almost sounds as if you're going to break up with me."

The only response he received was a twitching lip. Sighing deeply he set down the pipe, "That serious, hm?"

The two nodded, neither of their faces giving anything away.

Sarutobi sighed again. "Well, sit down then. I'm guessing it has something to do with the Kyuubi, and your amazing rise to power." The professor gestured lightly to the chairs adorning the room in front of his desk. He had an odd feeling that this was going to take a long while, and that he would feel twice as old before things were through.

They sat down silently, before Naruto spoke, "Can you please dismiss the ANBU, and activate a sound barrier seal?"

While slightly put off by the jinchuuriki's politeness, he nodded. He wasn't the Professor and Kami no Shinobi (B/A: He's 69 years old, been Hokage longer than most Konoha nin have been alive, and he can still fight toe-to-toe with the reanimated bodies of 2 previous Hokages and a Legendary Sannin. Imagine how he was in his prime.) for nothing, and could easily sense that it was indeed their chakra, along with them having no ill intent.

After a few moments spent activating the necessary seals, the Hokage questioned them, "And the reason why we have to take such precautions is…?"

The question hung in the air, daunting. As the old shinobi stared at the two young ones he couldn't help but notice something. _'Their eyes... They look far too old to be set on the faces of ones so young…' _

Naruto broke the silence.

"I know that our sensei have been telling you about our... exponential... growth, and they've been suspicious about where we learned our techniques. This suspicion isn't unfounded."

Hinata continued where her partner left off.

"The reason that we are this way is… Well, we are from thirteen years in the future."

Sarutobi took it marginally better than their teammates. Other than a tensing of his hands and narrowing of his eyes, he said nothing. He held up his hand for them to wait a moment, then went to the door and told his secretary he was not to be disturbed. He then went back to his chair and motioned for the pair to go on.

As they spoke the sun started sinking behind the mountains. They ordered supper after a few hours, and took a short bathroom break. When they finally finished, the sun was gone and the moon was directly above them.

Naruto finished with a tired sigh. "In short old man, we're in for a wild ride."

The said old man simply chuckled mirthlessly as he disengaged the silencing seals.

"Well Naruto, I think I may have one wild ride left in me, but after that... the Hokage robes are up for grabs."

It was then that the three felt a presence appear outside the window.

The blonde turned to the Hyuuga next to him.

"Hina-chan, why don't you go home for now. It's midnight, and I'm pretty sure that your father will be waiting. I'll tell you all about it in the morning."

Hinata smiled softly and gave him a fleeting kiss on the cheek before making her way to the door; she knew what was going to go on when she left. She also had a feeling that the three involved wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight, even if they got home before the sun made its reappearance to the world.

She paused before walking out the door. "Goodnight Naruto-kun. I'll see you tomorrow."

With one last glance to the window the heiress walked out of the Hokage's office, the stars shining brightly overhead.

Two minutes later the aging Hokage calmly called to the figure outside of the window, "Alright Jiraiya, you can come in."

Not a moment later the tall self-proclaimed super pervert appeared in the office.

The blonde time traveler spoke up first. It was a little early but he just missed the old pervert too much. "Hello Jiraiya-sensei."

The Toad Sage looked at the boy in front of him, and addressed the Hokage to his right, "Who's this brat?"

Sarutobi chuckled as he allowed Naruto to answer.

"What ero-sennin, can't remember your own god-son?"

Jiraiya's eye widened. He turned to Sarutobi. "How the hell does he know about that?" Once again, the long explanation ensued.

Luckily, it didn't take nearly as long as the previous, to the relief of all those present. By the time they were finished, it was four in the morning and they were all starting to feel the effects of sleep deprivation.

Sarutobi was leaned back in his desk chair, pipe returned to his mouth. Naruto was sitting crossed legged on the floor, leaning on his arms and staring at the ceiling, and Jiraiya was firmly seated in another chair with his head in his hands.

The sannin was the one to break the silence that they had been lulled into, "So, we need to find Tsunade?"

The other two nodded and gave a nonchalant 'mhmm' at his inquisition.

The white haired super pervert stretched back into his chair, rubbing his eyes, and sighed. "Oh boy…"

A few more moments passed and just as they were all being lulled into a much-needed sleep, Jiraiya decided to voice one last question.

"And just how the hell am I supposed to get Tsunade back to Konoha? She could care less if this village was razed to the ground, as long as any gambling and sake joints were still standing."

All that greeted him was a shrug and a puff of smoke from his old sensei. The boy, however, looked intently at the sannin.

"By any means necessary. Offer here money, give her sake, blackmail her, drug her and bring her back in a burlap sack, just get it done." The two elder men were quite surprised at the boy. Naruto ignored them, pulling a scroll from his rear pouch. A hand sign and a smear of blood later, Naruto held a familiar three-pronged kunai in his hand. He then turned to Jiraiya. "Here, take this. If you really need help throw this down and I'll show up, okay? I'm sure if it gets difficult I may be able to knock some sense into her. Literally."

The sage's eyes went wide as he took the handle of the finely crafted weapon. "You know how to do Hirashin?"

Naruto smiled tiredly. "Of course I do ero-sennin. I also learned rasengan in a month, and I took to the sage arts like a fish to water, albeit I don't have enough chakra to draw in nature chakra now. I am my father's son, and your future apprentice, after all."

The great super pervert shook his head. He didn't think he would ever get used to this. "Well, I'll leave the day after tomorrow. And to be back before the chuunin exams... That gives me approximately three weeks to find her if we want her to be in top shape and informed. That's a fairly difficult order Naruto, you know that right?"

Said boy nodded, "I know, but you're the only one capable of bringing her back. Right now you and oji-san are probably the only precious people she has left. So don't screw it up ero-sennin." He chuckled at the light scowl on the sannin's face.

It was then that Kyuubi, after the whole night of just sitting in the shadow behind Naruto's chair, decided to make his appearance. All present company was quite surprised when a small red fox appeared on the blonde boy's shoulder, staring intently at the aged sannin.

Taking a step back in shock, Jiraiya's eyes went wide in comprehension. They had told him that Kyuubi was able to in and out the seal as he pleased, and that the demon was far from evil as it was depicted, but to hear about to and see the apocalyptic demon itself were two very different things.

"Is that the Kyuubi?"

**"Yes, I am."**

He was astounded once again that the little red fox could talk. However, he did not have time to ponder as Kyuubi began to speak.

**"Hear me well Toad Sage. The success of this mission is essential to the future of this world."** The fox gave a small growl. **"Don't screw it up."**

The two elders in the room shuddered at his words, seemingly and suddenly understanding just how deeply paramount it was that this mission was successful. Naruto meanwhile sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Laying it on a little thick aren't you, Kyuu?"

The fox turned his crimson orbs to his warden. **"I am just making sure he understands the importance of this to our continued existence."**

The boy squirmed slightly under the demon's gaze. "Still..."

After this little exchange was over Sarutobi interjected, "Naruto, Kyuubi, why don't you two go home for tonight and we shall discuss more when Jiraiya returns." He chuckled dryly. "You might be able to get an hour or two of sleep before the sun rises."

Naruto stood from his chair with Kyuubi still on his shoulder and walked to the door. Before leaving he turned around once more, nodded to the two in the room and said his farewells. "Goodnight oji-san, ero-sennin. Catch you later." With one last nod and receiving two from those addressed, the jinchuuriki stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind him.

Jiraiya turned to the Hokage with a small, exasperated smile. "He sure is something, eh sensei?"

The old man smiled wearily, "He always has been." With a shaky sigh he rested his head in one of his hands and muttered "I'm too damn old for this."

* * *

Sasuke stared up at the green foliage above him. Today had been a long day. A very long day. Yesterday, Naruto and Hinata had told him and Sakura that they were from the future. That was a lot to take in. On one hand, he thought the idea of time travel ludicrous, but on the other hand, it made so much sense.

Well, so could killing the two and replacing them with very good actors to gain information about their village, but that was shot down because if you were a spy you would try to be discreet, and you would try to go for a higher ranking individual. Genin weren't very high ranking. Also, no spy could possibly fake having the Kyuubi, and a spy wouldn't take a jutsu like Raikiri through the chest to protect an enemy ninja.

Sasuke sighed and stood up. The sun was starting to set, enveloping the world and an array of reds, golds, and oranges. Now that he thought about it, those were Naruto colors. There for all the world to see, but only if you took the time to look. On that train of thought, he absently compared Sakura to the dawn, all pinks and yellows. Only there for those willing to wake up early enough, and missed by all of those who didn't make the effort. Sasuke shook his head ruefully.

'_Ha, a year ago, I would be thinking constantly about avenging my clan…'_

It was true team seven had changed him. And with the conversation yesterday, he couldn't even begin to fathom the depth.

_'I wonder... If Sakura's the sunrise, and Naruto's the sunset. What am I?'_

The raven-haired teen sighed. He guessed he'd have to wait a while longer to find that out. Another thing that he realized is that for the first time since the massacre, he truly felt at peace, like he belonged here. He wanted to keep it like that. The problem was... would he be able to?

Deciding that brooding over everything wasn't worth the effort at the moment, he deftly turned to face the village and headed out to meet up with Sakura for supper.

* * *

During supper (they were at Ichiraku, the place was growing on them) Sakura questioned Sasuke, "Sasuke-kun, do you think we'll do good in the Chunnin exams?"

The raven haired boy looked up and met her eyes, "Why wouldn't we? We've been training like crazy. Also, we apparently made it through before, so imagine how much better we'll be at it now.."

He added the last part in a low whisper to make sure no one overheard them.

Sakura took his cue and also lowered her voice "I know, but still, this one of the sannin we're talking about."

Sasuke nodded. Even he had to admit they weren't anywhere near a sannin's power yet. The most they could hope to do is either escape, hold him off long enough for help to arrive, or avoid being marked. Sasuke silently shivered. He had heard in full detail what become of him after being marked, and he did not wish to experience. Not if he could help it.

He turned back to the conversation at hand "Well, we'll just have to do our best then. We ARE a lot stronger now."

Sakura sighed, eyes down cast as she slurped up another noodle of ramen. A few moments passed before she spoke again, "Ne, Sasuke-kun, how is your training with Hayate going?"

Shortly after returning to the village, Kakashi had talked to the ailing man and had managed to get him to train Sasuke a bit. They had a three-hour long session everyday at three in the afternoon to study kenjutsu. To say the least, it was coming along pretty nicely. Sasuke was taking well to weapons.

"Alright I guess. Hayate-sensei knows a lot, and I'm learning fairly fast. How about you and medical jutsu? Or that strength technique?"

Sakura twirled a tendril of hair around her finger. She still hadn't gotten around to getting it cut.

"Well, Hinata and I have realized that we can't learn anymore on our own, and need a good med-nin to teach us. Problem is, they're all too busy to take on a student. As for the strength technique..." She gave a playful smirk. "You'll have to find out yourself! I want to see how well I do against you."

The rosette giggled softly with an affectionate smile on her face, and for a moment Sasuke was taken aback. The last one to give him a look like that was his mother. His thoughts took a downcast tone.

_'I wonder what mom would say if she were still here?' _

It hurt him slightly to think of her, but he couldn't help it nonetheless. A moment later he noticed a hand waving in front of his face. He blinked.

"Hn, what?"

Sakura leaned back, traces of puzzlement on her features. "Oh, nothing, you just spaced out for a second there."

Sasuke nodded before asking something that just occurred to him.

"Sakura, how come you never talk about your mother? We don't even know her name."

She looked startled at the sudden question. Sakura faltered for a minute before answering.

"Well, my mother's name is Sayuri. And, well, I don't really talk about her, 'cause there's not exactly much to say.

She doesn't exactly like the idea of me being a ninja. She isn't, but my dad was. He died in the Kyuubi attack a few months after I was born, so I never knew him. That's the reason why she doesn't want me to be a ninja. But hearing about my father is one of the reasons I wanted to be a ninja.

He died trying to protect those he loved, and I want to do that too. Well, the protecting part at least, I don't want to die, but I would if it would save one of you guys. Team seven is like family to me..."

By the end Sakura was staring absently into her bowl stirring the broth and floating bits of noodles and meat distractedly.

Sasuke blinked. He had always though she had joined the academy because she though being a ninja would be cool, or because her parents had made her. Gingerly, he placed a hand on her shoulder, though only for a moment, before taking it off. Even still it was enough to illicit a small smile from Sakura, "Thanks."

He nodded quietly. That's what friends were for right? Suddenly, he inwardly groaned.

_'Damn it, that dobe is getting to me.'_

* * *

Two weeks had passed since Jiraiya had left to find Tsunade, and there was still about two weeks or so until the chuunin exams, just a bit less. Team seven was currently at the training ground and taking a breather. Unanimously, they had decided to work even harder than before (if that was possible), and were now about to pass out from exhaustion.

Naruto sat up from his place under the tree (Kyuubi was off doing Kami knows what. B/A: I say chasing vixens, rabbits, or both.) and said something that made his teammates both perk up a bit.

"You guys are still wearing, weights right?"

They both nodded, wondering what he was getting at.

He grinned widely. "Do you even notice them anymore? And how much are you wearing... collectively?"

Sasuke lifted up one arm, just looked at at it and replied, "No, I don't feel anything. And about one-hundred twenty pounds all together."

The blonde nodded and looked at Sakura.

She seemed a bit surprised. "I don't feel them either, and I have about a hundred pounds for me."

He grinned even wider. "Wonder how fast we would be without them."

The eyes that met him were the size of saucers, and before you knew it they were ripping the weights off eagerly, anticipating just how much faster they were. A moment later, they were all standing up and doing various exercises. Sakura was hopping slightly and waving her arms, Naruto took a flying leap forward, and Sasuke did a few back-flips.

"I feel so much lighter!"

The rosette seemed to be in awe as she experimented with how fast her limbs moved without the resistance of the weights.

Naruto let out a loud yelp before screaming, "Last one to the monument and back is a wimpy little pansy!"

Without any other warning he took off with Sakura and Sasuke yelling behind him. "Naruto you jerk! You got a head start!" and "Dobe! Get back here!"

Fifteen minutes later found our favorite team panting and gasping for breath back where they had started. Sakura had lost.

"Haha! Sakura you pansy!" That of course was our beloved time traveler, Naruto.

She heatedly glared at him when she heard a quiet chuckle emit from somewhere behind her. Slowly her head spun around to look at the Uchiha desperately trying to reign control in his laughter.

"UCHIHA!" She let out a ferocious scream and punched him so hard upside the head that he flew backwards around twenty feet before slamming into a tree.

For exactly twenty eight seconds not a sound was heard. In that twenty-eight seconds, Naruto's eyes slowly widened one point four centimeters. Sasuke's brain repeated the same thought exactly every two seconds of those twenty-eight. '_Did hell just go and freeze over again?' _Sakura's heart beat exactly 40 times as she realized what she had done.

"S-sasuke-kun?" She slowly tiptoed over to where the dazed (mainly surprised) Uchiha was laying on the ground, "Are you okay?" He nodded shakily before standing up.

"Sakura, how did you do that?" Sasuke asked while brushing the dirt off his shirt.

Nervously she answered him, "Well um, you know I was looking into Tsunade's super strength?" He nodded, "Well I have gotten gist of it, but it's still kind of weak. I-I'm sorry!"

Her head was bowed down in shame but Sasuke's mind was reeling, "That was weak?!"

Behind them, still under the tree, Naruto burst out laughing.

"Oh ya you guys! That was pretty weak! In the future, she nailed me so hard that I flew through two cement walls and about three hundred feet of dense forest before screeching to a stop. Now THAT hurt."

Sasuke's mouth gaped open and closed like a fish out of water, imaging if he had been hit that hard, while Sakura look utterly amazed, staring at her fist like she had never seen it before. It was too much.

"Ahahahaha! Oh- oh- Your faces! Hahahaha-arg! My spleen!"

* * *

It was one week from the chunnin exams when Naruto was summoned to the Hokage's office. To say the least, he hoped that it was about Tsunade and Jiraiya, as he was getting anxious. He walked through the door to Sarutobi's office with Hinata at his side only to see that, for once, his plan had worked out perfectly. There, in all of her pissed off glory, was the slug sannin Tsunade.

A wide smile split his face as he felt Hinata's hand slip into his, "Hello Tsunade-baachan." Oh how good it felt to say that! Beside him Hinata greeted her as well with a soft smile, "Hello Tsunade-sama, Shizune-san, Jiraiya-sama, Sarutobi-sama."

The slug sannin roughly turned to face the two and glared daggers in Naruto's direction.

"Is that the boy you were talking about Jiraiya?" Her deep honey colored eyes darted from Jiraiya to Naruto and back as he nodded. She turned her full attention back to the boy and began.

"What's with the name brat?"

He grinned and move farther into the room and sat in one of the free chairs, Hinata taking the other. "At least your name is in it. I just call Jiraiya-sensei ero-sennin."

He looked around the room taking in each other of their faces before he spoke. "Well now Baa-chan, how much exactly did they tell you?"

She crossed her arms. "Everything."

"Shizune as well?"

"Yes."

He rubbed his temples, "Well that saves me from telling you, but I wasn't exactly planning on telling everyone everything so soon." He sighed, "Oh well."

"Umm, Naruto-kun?"

He looked at Hinata, giving her his full attention. "I was thinking, if Tsunade-sama were to agree she could train Sakura and I while Jiraiya-sama would help you and Sasuke. I know that there is not much time before the exams but there is the month break in between the second and third exam."

"Mhmm. Well Ero-sennin? Tsunade-baachan?"

The female sannin rubbed her temples in frustration while Jiraiya stood calm beside Sarutobi's desk and nodded.

"Augg!" She groaned as if physically in pain before continuing, "You brats sure aren't making it easy for me are you? Bad enough I had to come back to this village, I have to take on a couple of brat students too?"

She took a few seconds to look at the faces around her and sighed defeated, "Fine. But you guys better be good." Her eyes were bored into Hinata's, daring her to disagree.

A simple "Of course." Was all that Hinata said in reply.

A moment later the tension was broken as Sarutobi coughed politely and began to speak, "Well if that is all I would like to bring up another issue." He looked straight into Naruto's eyes as he continued, "What about Kakashi, Naruto? We, and your teammates know, but not your sensei... most peculiar."

The youngest blond in the room shifted uncomfortably, that had been a tough decision for them too. "Well, we weren't sure for a while. We know that it has to come out, and we know who needs to know first, just Kakashi is a little farther down on the list than you guys."

Hinata then spoke up from his side, "We've decided to tell him in the break between the second and third exams."

The three elder shinobi in the room nodded in assent. That seemed to be a fair enough choice.

The Hokage cleared his throat one last time before speaking, "Well you two are dismissed. All that is left to do is wait. Luckily, or rather, unluckily, it's only a week and we still need to form a plan to keep Orochimaru out."

Naruto stood up, "Umm, actually, I was hoping you wouldn't do that. We need to keep under the radar until the invasion. The sooner he gets taken out, the better. I'll take care of him in the Forest of Death. Also, the main reason I wanted Tsunade-baachan and Ero-sennin here was to help you face him in the invasion." His face scrunched up in disgust. "Even that tenacious, pedophile snake in the grass would fall under the combined might of two sannin and a kage."

Sarutobi rubbed his temples tiredly as Tsunade and Jiraiya narrowed their eyes, neither liking the idea. As reluctant as he was to admit it, it would be better if they could take Orochimaru out sooner.

"Very well, although we will be monitoring the situation, is that clear?"

The two nodded.

"Alright then, you are dismissed. Don't do anything stupid."

Naruto only smiled as he and Hinata made their way out the door.

Inside the room, the two sannin and one kage stared at each other. They could all feel the migraines coming on.

* * *

Another two days passed before Kakashi brought up the subject of the chunnin exams. They were meeting up at the bridge, as per usual, with Kakashi late, as per usual. He poofed in with a "Yo", lazily dodging several kunai and a few shuriken. He gave his usual eye smile.

"Well team, the chuunin exams are right around the corner, and I was wondering if you guys wanted to compete?"

A sweat drop formed at the back of his head as all he received were deadpan stares. The great shinobi, copy-nin Kakashi of the sharingan eye, nervously chuckled as his students continued to stare. That cold, dead stare. Staring, staring, boring into him, rending his soul apart, burning, burning--

"It took you that long to ask us! We have known for over a month about the exams and you only just ask us about it NOW!?"

Sakura was in a steaming rage with the boys on either side looking equally angry. The silver haired jounin took three steps backwards before letting out a rushed sentence, "Fill out these forms and hand them in on the exam date good bye!"

Without another word he poof-ed out of existence, leaving three sheets of paper to flutter to the ground.

Sakura silently shook her head before bending to pick up one of the sheets. "When will he learn?"

The two boys just shrugged as they picked up their sheets as well.

A few minutes later, as they were filling out the forms, Naruto voiced something that he had recently remembered. "Oh, hey, Sakura?"

Absently she replied, twirling a pen around one of her fingers, "What?"

"Well I was thinking, are you going to cut your hair? Last time you nearly got it pulled out of your head during the exams..."

That got her attention, her head turned sharply to face him, and intense look on her face.

"Is that so?"

Naruto didn't miss the glint in her eye even though her tone was airy. Then right before their eyes the pink haired kunoichi pulled out a gleaming, razor-sharp kunai, pulled her hair back and cut it off. She watched as her teammates eyes widened as tendrils of her cherry blossom blew away with the wind. Sakura gazed on as her symbol of childhood flew over the trees and out of sight. Innocence wouldn't keep their hands clean for much longer. The real world was knocking on the door, and it wouldn't come in gently.

They may as well be ready to kick the real world's ass.

Another five minutes passed before anyone spoke, when they did it was Sasuke who broke the silence.

"You guys ready?"

His onyx eyes passed between Naruto and Sakura before they answered in unison.

"As ready as we'll ever be."

* * *

"Hey! Hinata! Naruto! Wait up!"

Sakura quickly ran to the couple as they walked down the ally. They stopped and turned slightly as she caught up with them. It was now only three days before the exam, and they were all anxious for it to get underway.

"Hello Sakura!" Hinata was as eager as the rest of them as they waited. Naruto merely grinned and waved in greeting. He didn't look it, but he was tense as a coiled spring- ready to snap out at an instant's notice.

They idly chatted for a few moments, mainly Sakura questioning them about the training that they would receive from Tsunade after the second exam, which she was quite looking forward to.

A few minutes into the conversation, Hinata said something that made her stop. "Sakura, I am only going to be training with you and Tsunade-sama for a short amount of time. After that I am going to be focusing on my own method."

"W-what?" Obviously the girl had thought that Hinata had been as much of a medic as she had been in the future. She would've liked having the dark-haired girl for company. Hinata began to explain.

"I'm not a med-nin Sakura-san, not formally. I am at the same level as an accomplished field medic, but it's not my career. It's yours. Although in the war, I had to dabble in many different areas from medical, to interrogation, and to negotiation, I am most comfortable with close-range fighting and tracking." She smiled somewhat sadly. "I will be training with you, at the most, for six months."

Sakura had barely finished nodding when a shout of "Boss!" came from three voices behind them. Even as they turned, a young brown haired academy student, wearing a cape-like scarf, firmly attached himself to one of the blonde's legs as two more short blurs came flying at them.

Before they knew it, all three near nine-year olds were shouting at them.

"Boss! Boss! Can you play ninja with us?" Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon all clamored over each other for a bit of speaking space. Finally, after a few moments of this, the trio seemed to come to an unspoken consensus, clasping their hands in front of them and doing their best puppy dog eyes. "Pleeaase?"

And Naruto, knowing that this may very well be the last time he would see the children so carefree, gave in to their bewilderingly effective stares.

Giving a defeated sigh he shot Hinata and Sakura an amused look before addressing the kids with a short barking laugh, "Fine, fine. I'll play. You guys run on ahead to test out your crazy stealth skills, and I'll try to find you."

The Kono Corps gave a cheer before speeding off down the alley, trying, and failing miserably, to cover their tail behind them.

Hinata just shook her head, a small smile adorning her face while Sakura looked amused. Naruto sheepishly chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "I'm such a sucker aren't I?"

The girls both nodded as they turned to follow the retreating students.

For another few minutes they walked in a comfortable silence before they heard the first surprised- and fearful- yelp.

Naruto turned slowly to the other two, his eyes determined.

"Gaara..."

Not another word was said as they all flew towards the origin of the tumultuous outcry.

* * *

A/N: And that my dear friends is the end of chapter fourteen! I took forever to write. Once again I am sooo sorry for the long wait, I really didn't mean it! Also I'm sorry for the jumpy and quick-ness of this chapter, I really needed to get these things out there and get the characters involved for what I need to do with this story.

In any case I hope your all not too appalled with this sorry excuse of a chapter and I totally did not plan on going into that much detail with Sasuke and Sakura but I felt that she really needed a back story and we needed to see what he was thinking, I'm sorry if I made him a sap lol.

B/N: Editing… Done. Didn't have to do too much. Now, to all people who read the chapter but don't review- FALCON- PAWNCH! –punch off screen- GAME. SET!

You have been warned.

Please...

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	15. Sands of Time

**Author's Note:**-Peeks out- I'm sorry!!! I started this chapter only a few days after the last however high school once again caught up to me plus I got a new job, and boyfriend. My Social sub sucks (our actual teacher went out on sick leave for an indefinite period of time so we're stuck with a sub who has no idea what she's doing) so we're not going to be finished the curriculum in time for exams. -coughcough-

Anyway I've decided to make this a two-part fic. So there are -roughly- 5 – 10 chapters left of this one.

Also if anyone has any ideas for the title of the second part (as I am blank for ideas) please let me know in a review or PM. Thank you!

**Beta's Note: **_Here's an idea. Worry about titles later. Focus are actually __**writing**_ _those next 5-10 chapters._

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. Unfortunately.

**Beta Disclaimer: **_You could reasonably say that I own Grammar. (A/N: Yes, yes you are. -bows-)_

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

"**Kyuubi/Inner Talking"**

_**'Kyuubi/Inner Thinking'**_

_

* * *

_

Revelance of the Future

Chapter 15

Sands of Time

Author: Ginriku

Editor: Dr. Yami

* * *

"Gaara..."

When the three young shinobi rounded the corner, they were greeted by a shocking sight.

A Suna-nin, wearing what could only be described as a black body-suit with cat ear-like protusions from the top, along with purple lines of makeup down his cheeks and boxing his eyes, along with a large, wrapped bundle with hair sticking out the top on his back, was holding Konohamaru up by his neck and was standing with one foot on Udon's chest. Moegi was pounding on his leg and screaming for him to let go of the two boys. After a few seconds, he became irritated with the girl's screaming and shoved her back with his free hand, causing her to stumble and fall.

"Hey! Who do you think you are!?" Sakura screamed as she swooped in and scooped up the felled girl. "They were only playing!"

The Sun-genin sneered at them before answering, "These three brats ran into me. I think they ought to be properly punished."

Behind him a Suna-kunoichi, carrying a large fan, with sandy-blonde hair in four pig tails, sighed, making her presence known. "Come on Kankuro, you've caused enough trouble already. Do you want Gaara to find out?"

Naruto raised one eyebrow at the now named Kankuro, and folded his arms, "Well?"

Kankuro seemed to shake in his sandals at the mention of his younger brother. Hesitantly, he let go of Konohamaru, who fell into a heap on the ground gasping for breath, and stepped off of Udon, who scrambled over to Konohamaru and dragged him farther away from the nin.

"F-fine. But this isn't over yet!"It was a feeble attempt to regain his composure.

A slight rustling was heard in the trees, and a dead sounding voice was heard.

"What isn't over yet, Kankuro."

It wasn't a question.

All of the young shinobi and the three academy students looked high into the tree to find a figure standing on a branch that looked like it shouldn't have held his weight, much less the weight of the massive gourd on his back. Blazing red hair and dull jade eyes. Subaku no Gaara.

Instantly the two other sand nin started shivering as he dropped to the ground, stating in a dull monotone "Well?"

However it wasn't his siblings' voices that answered him. "Your 'friend' over here was strangling the Hokage's grandson and antagonizing said grandson's friends."

Gaara's eyes widened imperceptibly as he felt cool metal on his neck, before his sand quickly chased away the assailant.

As the new comer jumped back to avoid being impaled by a spear of sand, the sand shinobi turned slowly around to look straight into glinting onyx eyes.

Temari and Kankuro were in states of shock that someone had been able to get so close to Gaara before his sand reacted, while it had the opposite effect on the present leaf nin.

"Sasuke-kun! About time you showed up!" Sakura's voice was happy but ended in a slightly demanding tone.

Naruto, however, was smiling wickedly. That little display was evidence of how far they had come since last time.

Sasuke lazily twirled a kunai in his hand as he stared at the three sand nin. "Why are you here."

This was said in a superior tone that obviously showed in what not a question, and that he expected an answer.

Gaara however had regained his composure and glared at him coolly.

"We are here for the chunin exams."

The raven-haired boy simply nodded as he turned back to his friends and leaned down and helped the two small boys up and set them on their feet. As the rest of them turned to leave, Naruto had one last thing to say.

"A word of advice; Don't even think about it. Shukaku too."

None of the siblings could move as the leaf nin walked away.

* * *

"I don't know if I can do this."

"You'll be fine."

* * *

"What if it doesn't work?"

"I'll still love you."

* * *

"My mother would have liked you, you know."

"I sure we would have gotten along great."

* * *

"What was with those guys?"

"I don't know. I just want them dead."

* * *

"Is everything ready?"

"Affirmative."

* * *

The morning of the first exam dawned bright and crisp. It would have been a good day… if the tension in the air weren't so stifling. It was as if a blanket of fear had settled over the village. No seemed to dare to raised their voices above barely more then a whisper. It would have been easy to see that the ninja patrols all around the village were humming like a plucked bow- but then, they wouldn't be very good ninja if you could see them.

Meanwhile, we find Team Ten walking towards the exam building.

"Hey Shika-kun!"

Their usually brash blond team member heatedly whispered at her lazy teammate. Of course, the response to this was nothing more than, "Mmm, wah?"

However, that didn't deter her, "What's wrong with the village? It's so quiet, not even the birds are singing..."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes up to the clouds before responding, "Well if you haven't noticed the amount of ninja in full gear has increased dramatically over nigh. With all of the foreign nin here for the exam, people are already nervous. The birds probably aren't singing because of ninja patrols through the trees. Something big is about to go down." He frowned slightly. "Something very big."

Ino just weakly nodded as their third teammate ran up to them, looking almost as spooked as she felt. No doubt he had come to the same conclusion.

* * *

"Well, Hina-chan... Today's the day."

Naruto's arms snaked around her waist as he drew her to him and buried his face in her hair. A position he used when they were older, whenever he was feeling stressed.

Lightly she maneuvered her hand behind him to slowly run her fingers through his hair. "It'll be fine, Naru-kun. You've planned too much for this for it to happen any other way."

Sighing he turned her around in his arms so that she was facing him, quickly he leaned in and stole a kiss before replying, "I just wish I was as sure as you are, Hime."

They stood there for a few more moments before breaking away. Naruto had to meet Sakura and Sasuke at the bridge, while Hinata had to be at Kiba's to wait for Shino with him.

* * *

Team Seven met at their usual place before heading to the examination building. They all seemed to hum with the same tension that the rest of the village was feeling. Sakura was the last to join them as Sasuke and Naruto stood going over the plan again.

The rosette stopped in front of them, slightly breathless, and wearing a new outfit. "Sorry I'm late guys. My Mom had an... episode of sorts. She didn't want me to come, but it's fine now."

They both nodded and Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Sakura was now outfitted with black cargo shorts, a fitted scarlet tank top, and a strange type of armor made of a black metal covering her chest and the rest of her torso coming to a slight point at the bottom of her navel. She was wearing her armored gloves and had bandages wrapping their way up from her wrist to her elbow.

She blushed slightly seeing his expression, but spoke anyway, "Does it look alright?"

He nodded, a smirk making its way onto his face as Naruto called to them.

"Oi, we should get moving now!"

They hurried to catch up with him.

* * *

When Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura finally arrived they found that there was a scene on the second floor. Naruto smirked, knowing what was to happen.

"Guys, prepare to meet Neji, Tenten, and Lee. Brace yourselves."

He chuckled at the looks on their faces at his warning, not pausing he continued over and called to the group surrounding and wrongly marked door.

"Oi! What's with all the ruckus! Can't you idiots tell?!"

He left the question open as Lee was shoved back in all of his green spandexed glory. As he got to his feet, he, Neji, Tenten and the rest of the crowd turned to see who shouted.

Sakura's eyes widened in amazement. _'Wow, Naruto wasn't kidding about his eye brows.'_

Sakura then piped up, seeing that all eyes were on them. "Ya, even a complete idiot could tell that this is a genjutsu to trick you. I mean, honestly people, we're only on the second floor."

By the door a disguised Kotetsu and Izumo smirked as the genin in front of them gasped in either surprise or indignation. Neither really cared enough to wonder. Kotetsu called out to the amused team Seven.

"Well now, someone finally noticed. But all you did was see through it!"

Without warning, he spun a roundhouse kick aimed at Sasuke. In retaliation, Sasuke also brought his leg up to block. Not a moment before they came into contact, a green blur appeared between them and caught their legs mid strike. A rough grunt was heard before the girl with the two buns stepped forward and dragged Lee from off of the floor.

"I thought we agreed to not drawing attention to ourselves!" Was angrily whispered to him from the girl.

"I am sorry, Tenten-chan."

Some more words were passed between them as their last team member joined them. A few moments later Lee once again approached them.

He spoke to Sasuke as he spoke but his eyes were on Sakura, "I apologize for my behavior, I should not have interfered."

Sasuke barely nodded before Lee burst into speech. He knelt on the ground in front Sakura with hearts in his eyes.

"My dear cherry blossom! After this horrible exam will you honor me with a date?! Please, I will protect you from these ruffians!"

Sakura sweat dropped before politely rebuffing the hopeful youth.

When Lee finally walked away, Naruto turned to his teammates.

"Sasuke, what do you think?"

His dark eyes roved over the trio before turning back to him and answering, "They're... interesting to say the least. Lee's fast... very fast. I can match it though. Hyuuga is more alert then he's letting on, and the girl-"

"Tenten."

"-Tenten, then. Seems slightly paranoid."

Naruto nodded in agreement, "Ya, watch out for all the sharp, pointy objects she's got. Well then, shall we head up to the room?"

The others ascended and they set out to the stairs at the end to the hall. Kotetsu, Izumo, and Team Gai had already left.

* * *

They were just making their way through a large room that had a ceiling that ascended all the way to the roof from the ground floor when Lee stopped them.

The trio paused waiting for the green clad nin to speak.

"You... Uchiha. Fight me. Right here, right now." He quickly slid into a stance, one arm behind his back, knees bend slightly, his free hand in front of him in a 'Come hither' gesture.

Sakura spoke first, as she was prone to doing, "Right now? Are you serious?"

Before Lee could confirm her questions Sasuke vocalized his answer.

"Fine. I'll fight you."

The ebony haired genin then indicated the room beyond the railing, "Down there."

Two minutes later all of the genin were on the floor of the large room, with Sasuke and Lee staring each other down in the middle.

To the side Sakura held up a hand, "Ready? Ok.... Hajime!"

Both of the combatants launched forward to begin their deadly dance with blinding speed. It seemed they were next to evenly matched on speed.

While they were fighting Kyuubi materialized on Naruto's shoulder, in an even smaller form then usual and wrapped himself around his guard's neck.

"**You don't seriously think that Sasuke will lose, do you kit?"**

Naruto let out a small laugh while crossing his arms, "No. Of course not Kyuu. Although he won't give us away if that is your next question. He will deal with this quickly and efficiently."

The blonde felt the fox nip his ear before speaking, "**Ok, but I'm staying here." **

He merely grumbled something in reply because at that moment Sasuke had pinned Lee to the ground. He couldn't quite catch what was said but it seemed to be a warning. Beside him Sakura had piped up.

"Good job Sasuke!"

The Uchiha smirked as he helped Lee up from their position on the floor. As they dusted themselves off the pair walked over.

Naruto spoke first to Lee, "You did a good job. Lee as well. Your speed is very impressive." He inclined his head in Sasuke's direction, "We need to get to the examination room now."

Sasuke nodded and headed for the stairs and Sakura followed him. Naruto meanwhile looked back towards the solemn Lee. After catching his eye he gave him a bright encouraging smile and spoke, "Aren't you coming?"

This seemed to perk him up as he smiled and followed our beloved time traveler to the long awaited chunin exam.

* * *

When they entered the room Lee immediately went to stand with his teammates on one side of the room as a blonde banshee screamed, "FOREHEAD GIRL!"

About half a second later Ino had latched onto Sakura and began to interrogate her.

"What have you been doing with Sasuke?! What's happened to you?! And what's with your clothes?!"

When she finally stopped shouting Ino was panting hard and gripping Sakura firmly around the shoulders. However, before the rosette could speak Ino had stolen Sasuke's left arm.

Naruto watched in amusement as he felt a small warm hand slip into his right. He looked over his shoulder to see Hinata smiling at him.

"Hello, Hime." he said in a low gentle voice as he softly smiled.

She simply gave him a small smile before going back to her teammates. Being too friendly with each other could draw unwanted attention to the duo.

When the spiky blonde turned back to the situation at hand he saw the two half-friends (half because they were still, well, Ino mainly, fighting over Sasuke.) bickering to each other over something foolish. Sakura had mature greatly in the last few months, but she still had her moments.

A moment later a sliver haired teen with round glasses that nobody wanted to see, swaggered up to the group.

"Oi! Rookies! Are you guys trying to piss everyone off?"

Kyuubi's fur bristled at the sound of his retched voice but other then that he showed no outward signs of recognition. At the same time, everyone of the rookie nine turned to look at the intruder.

Naruto forced himself not to scowl. _'Kabuto...' _

Before anyone could retort, Orochimaru's spy started to talk again. "This isn't a field trip you know. What are you? Just out of the Academy?"

It was at this point that Ino, being the airhead that she was interrupted.

"Hey! Just who do you think you are?!"

Kabuto's glasses flashed as his eyes swiveled to her face, "I am Kabuto, but really, look behind me."

Only those who weren't privy to select information turned, the others stared impassively at his visage. Even then he continued talking.

"Those murderous looking guys over there are from Rain. By the looks of it, they want to eat you for breakfast. If I were you, I'd shut up, and shut up fast."

The traitor sighed and grabbed a chair behind him calling back the attention of everyone else. "Still, you guys remind me of my first time."

"First time for what?" Sakura played her part and asked the question to hurry it along. Things were playing out exactly how Naruto told them they would.

Kabuto sighed impatiently. "First time for this exam. This is my seventh time now. It's held twice a year, so this is my fourth year."

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed as Ino moved back a half step. They didn't think that it was that hard.

Sasuke spoke up next, "You must know a lot about this exam then." His voice held a cold undertone that sent a slight chill up Kabuto's spine.

None-the-less, he still smirked, "Well, since you guys are so interested, I think I'll help you out a little bit." He took a tall deck of cards out of his pack, "These are nin-info cards." He spread them out slightly in his hands. "I have information on just about every genin in here burned into them with my chakra."

He proceeded with his explanation as Naruto edged over to Sasuke, "I'll get our cards." Sasuke gave an almost imperceptible nod.

"- so does anyone want to try it?"

"I do." The spiky blonde stepped forward.

"Oh really? Tell me something about the-"

"Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Hinata Hyuuga, and Sasuke Uchiha." Naruto cut him off before he could finish speaking, He needed those cards now.

Kabuto's eyes widened slightly, "Well now, aren't you hasty? No matter."

In a moment Kabuto was holding four cards, just as he was about to read them out, a hand with blinding speed snatched them out of the air.

"I'll take those." Naruto's eyes scanned the cards.

There was all of the missions, fighting styles, plus various select information about the prowess of their group. Needless to say, Kabuto would not be getting these back. Kabuto was shocked as Naruto's chakra bled into the cards, wiping them clean.

"What did you do that for?!"

Naruto's eyes flickered to Kabuto's, his irises seeping into a deep, violent purple. "To make sure that information doesn't fall into the wrong hands."

Silence was heard throughout the room until an explosion was heard at the front of the desks. Only slightly slower than anyone could blink, there were chunin proctors everywhere, and at the head was Morino Ibiki.

"Alright, shut your worthless traps and listen up!"

All together like that, they were an imposing sight. What made it worse was that an unbelievably thick layer of killing intent blanketed the entire room, frightening for everyone except Hinata and Naruto, who merely played along.

"Now then, I'm Morino Ibiki and I am the proctor for this exam. Fighting will not be tolerated at this point in the exam, much less any attempts to kill other examinees..

"Anyone who dares disobey me will be failed immediately. Do I make myself clear!?"

He waited a moment for his words to sink in before continuing, "Now everyone draw a number, get in your seats, and we will begin the test."

Fifteen minutes later everyone was seated. To Naruto's great surprise, he was not sitting by Hinata, but instead next to him was Ino. Naruto gave her an acknowledging nod before turning to face front.

'_Damn, I was really hoping to sit next to Hina-chan again.'_

'**What can you expect kit. It was a random process to begin with- no amount of interference could've gotten you sitting next to her again.'**

_'I suppose so, Kyuu.'_

The first part of the exam passed without incident, with everyone doing their respective cheating techniques. Naruto had simply used his fore-knowledge to fill out most of the test, although he gave up on the mathematics part, he was utterly useless at it. Sakura however had just did what she had done before and knew all of the answers, there was no need to cheat with her. Sasuke meanwhile subtly activated his sharingan and copied Sakura's hand-movments as she was ever so conveniently sitting two rows down from him and three seats to the left, a perfect view. Hinata used a similar tactic with her byakugan, looking at the answers of the hidden chunnin right behind her, although she found that she didn't really need his help after all. Kyuubi had slinked off unnoticed, muttering about being bored under his breath, and that he was hungry_. _

There was ten minutes left of the exam when Ibiki stood up again, a subtle change in attitude commanding all eyes to focus on him. Within half a second there was a silence so profound within the room that you could hear the wind beating against the window glass.

Naruto took a deep breath_. 'Okay. It's almost time for me to intervene...'_

Once he was certain he had their attention, Ibiki spoke. "Listen up! Now is the time for the tenth and final question!"

Ibiki shouted out the instructions, and slowly but surely more, and more people got cold feet. Naruto remembered his first time taking this exam, how freaked out about it he was.

A few more moments passed and a few more people gave up. Cowardice, really. Naruto's upper lip lifted slightly at the thought.

"Numbers 158, 32, and 56! You're out!"

The chunin rang out as one of the un-named genin raised their hand to signal that he had given up. They were from Rain, though they weren't anyone that he could remember.

The blonde let this go on for a little while longer. When he saw Ino shaking beside him, he knew it was time to stop. As defiantly as last time, Naruto stood and slapped the desk in front of him with a loud snap, drawing all eyes to him.

"Alright! That's enough you scarred bastard! Enough with the bull crap! We wanna know what the last question is gonna be already!" He crossed his arms. "I got places to go and people to see, asses to kick, and you don't become a ninja to take up missions filling out exam sheets!! Besides, I would never submit to you."

Deafening silence greeted his words. Then, slowly, everyone watched as the next words dripped for Ibiki's lips, "I will give you one last chance, make the wrong choice and it will be the last decision of your life."

Naruto smirked while adjusting his hitai-ate, "Nah, I think I'll live a little bit longer. Move it along, teme"

In return, Ibiki smirked before casting his gaze around the room once more. Amazed to see the look of confidence on everyone's face, including some of his chunnin's.

He shook his head, chuckling quietly to himself. '_Uzumaki Naruto…he is certainly an interesting one.'_

Clearing his throat he leveled his gazed at the genin and spoke, "Well, in that case, you all pass! Congratulations!"

There was a moment of dead silence. Then… "WHAT!?!?"

At once the room was filled with buzzing and screams of outrage and disbelief. Of course the fools would be outraged, they just got played like a game of Go.

And just as soon as the silence fell, it was broken by the sound of shattering glass. A ball of cloth crashed through the window before being violently pinned to the ceiling by two kunai. The kunoichi that landed nimbly at the front of the room shouted, "Hey brats! This is no time for fun and games! I'm the examiner for the second test, Mitarashi Anko! Shut up and listen up!"

At once all eyes were on her.

Naruto smirked as he surveyed his friend. In the war, she had cast aside her mesh for more sturdy armor. It was interesting to see her back in those clothes. Kyuubi made himself known once again by jumping up into Naruto's lap, where the boy rested a light hand on the fox's back.

_'Miss me Kyuu?'_

The small fox yawned before replying, **'Not really, those rabbits were tasty though.'**

The blonde simply rolled his eyes.

"Okay, now everyone up and follow me!"

Naruto's eyes snapped back into focus as everyone started to vacate their seats. Quickly following he hurried to find Sakura and Sasuke, Kyuubi back on his shoulder. He shot Hinata a smile as they all filed out of the room.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, all of the chunin hopefuls were standing around the gates of the Forest of Death. Anko was busy telling the all about the dangers that they would face and what the terms of the exam were. While she was doing this Naruto was having a quiet discussion with Kyuubi.

"What happens if Oro gets out of hand?"

Kyuubi fixed him with a steely red gaze, "**We pray for a miracle."**

Both Sasuke and Sakura overheard the exchange and gulped.

_'Great.'_

* * *

"Kabuto!"

"Y-yes master!"

The silver haired teen nervously answered his snake like master. He knew that something was wrong.

"How come I was not informed of the brat's new capabilities?" Orochimaru hissed at the teen just outside of their starting gate, the restraint that the boy had shown during the fisrt exam was completely unlike the reports he had seen from when the boy was in the acadamy. Kabuto couldn't stay long as he need to be at his own gate before that start of the exams lest they be disqualified.

"I'm sorry sir, I did not know." He looked down at the ground, shifting from foot to foot, obviously nervous about the set up.

The Sannin's eyes glinted and narrowed.

"Very well, but I will not be so forgiving next time." He turned around, firmly dismissing the nin. "Now get out of my sight."

Kabuto mumbled a quick 'Yes master.' before hurriedly making his way to his own team and gate. Orochimaru was definitely not in a good mood.

He snorted, sneering at his worry. _'So what if the kyuubi brat is a bit stronger then I had counted on? He is no match for me.'_

* * *

_**'BEEEEEP! BEEEEEP! BEEEEEP!'**_

The gates opened and they were off.

The second exam had begun.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I really am sooooo sorry. I can't believe that the whole year got away from me like that! However no matter what this looks like I will most definitely finish this fic. There is no doubt in my mind that I will.

Although right now all I can ask for is your forgiveness... :) Please??

Also a cookie to anyone who can tell me whose talking to whom at the short two liners up there around the middle. In order lol

**Beta's Note: -swirl around a glass of Jack Daniels- Remember now, if yall go and form a mob, I'm just the beta. I edit the stories, make 'em nice and purtiful for all yall readers. –point at Ginriku- **_**She's**_ **the one who actually writes the stuff.**

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